Defendant convicted of ‘active shooter’ incident that injured Good Samaritan

By Jeff Levine
– May 6, 2024
court | Daily Stories | Shoot | Suspicious | Victim |

D.C. Superior Court Judge Michael Ryan sentenced 37-year-old Tyrone Taylor to eight years in prison for what prosecutors called an “active shooter” event that terrorized at least four victims and seriously injured another.

According to court documents, on July 22, 2023, Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) officers responded to a call saying someone had threatened him with a gun on Kingman Island, a man-made, forested sanctuary in the Anacostia River.

The prosecutor described Taylor as responsible for that attack, as well as a series of events in the remote area that day as typical of an “active shooter.”

Prosecutors say Taylor attacked two fishermen at gunpoint with a 9mm handgun and then two hours later encountered a person who thought Taylor might need help. While the good Samaritan said he wasn’t calling the police but rather calling for help, Taylor responded by opening fire.

The prosecutor played body-worn camera video of the victim’s rescue as he lay on a table and first responders tried to stop bleeding from life-threatening wounds in his stomach and left leg.

Later, according to the prosecution, Taylor pointed a gun at a teenager who ran in fear and stopped two people, all of whom were “couching in fear” from the gunfire. All in all, the prosecutor said, Taylor exhibited “deadly and explosive behavior.”

The prosecutor also noted that Taylor had an extremely violent criminal history. Offenses from 2005 included a conviction for armed robbery and a conviction for manslaughter in 2016.

In January, Taylor pleaded guilty to assault with intent to kill, assault with a deadly weapon and possession of a firearm during a crime of violence. The prosecutor asked Judge Ryan for a sentence of eight years in prison for each of the first two counts and seven years in prison for the third count.

Attorney Carrie Waletz, speaking on Taylor’s behalf, said, “Undoubtedly, this was a volatile situation that could have been worse.” But she said Taylor was “very much on the edge” after being targeted many times in the shootings and after his own He was said to have been wounded five times.

The problem was exacerbated, Waletz said, by Taylor’s “self-medication” with street drugs, which she described as a “recipe for disaster.” Waletz went on to describe Taylor’s troubled family background without a father, who also ended up in the criminal justice system.

Judge Ryan had ordered a mental capacity assessment for Taylor, which concluded he was fit to stand trial, although he felt the judge was paranoid and “not entirely logical”.

Taylor apologized for the crime; However, he said, “Everyone in this room doesn’t know what the victim did.” And Taylor said he feared for his life. “Why was my area violated?” he asked as the victim approached.

In handing down the sentence, Judge Ryan said: “This man you shot has suffered greatly… you have caused great havoc.”

Taylor must serve eight years for assault with intent to kill, seven years for assault with a deadly weapon and eight years for possession of a firearm during a crime of violence. The sentences should run parallel. This was followed by three years of supervised release and a $300 payment to the Crime Victims Fund.

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