Police in Fredericksburg, Virginia, are searching for two teenage suspects in the shooting death of a high school student on Sunday.
Jasiah Smith, 18, was found lying in a parking space with multiple gunshot wounds in the 200 block of Chadwick Court at about 3 p.m., according to a Fredericksburg Police Department release. Smith died a short time later at a hospital, police said.
Police said Friday that 19-year-old Aaron Randolph Carter is wanted for second-degree murder in the killing. Carter is 5-feet-8-inches tall, 145 pounds and drives a white Chevrolet Impala bearing VA license plate TUS-4155, police said.
A 16-year-old boy is wanted on a charge of first-degree murder, but police said they could not release information about him due to his age.
Police said both suspects are considered armed and dangerous, and that if anyone sees Carter they should not approach him and call police immediately.
Before medics arrived, two women who lived nearby at the townhouse community heard the gunfire and ran to help.
“I got down on the ground and checked his pulse and his pulse was very faint. I just started looking for bullet wounds. I just kept saying, ‘Come on baby, breathe. They’re almost here,'” one of the good Samaritans told News4 by phone. She did not want to be identified.
With chest compressions, she was able to keep Smith breathing until first responders took over.
“I have never been in that type of situation before, and when I found out that he was just a kid, it hit me a little harder,” the good Samaritan said.
The teen, who was a senior at James Monroe High School, had been hanging out with some friends in the parking lot near a basketball court when he was shot, police said.
Witnesses said they saw a large group of teens surrounding Smith right after the gunfire. One teen reached down to try to pull him up, witnesses said.
Police are asking anyone with information to call 540-373-3122 or by texting “847-411” with “FPDtip” with the information.
