DC police make arrest in mass shooting that killed 6-year-old Nyiah Courtney

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DC Mayor Muriel Bowser provides an update on public safety

Police in Washington, D.C. have made an arrest in connection to the death of 6-year-old Nyiah Courtney, who was killed while riding her scooter in a mass shooting that also left her mother wounded earlier this month. 

Marktwan Hargraves, 22, is charged with first-degree murder while armed, Police Chief Robert Contee announced at a press conference Wednesday. 

A barrage of bullets sprayed out on a street in the Congress Heights neighborhood of southeast Washington around 11 p.m. on July 16. Police officers who were nearby responded to the scene about 34 seconds after the first gunshot was heard and rushed the girl to a local hospital in a police car.

Courtney was pronounced dead. Her mother, another woman and two men suffered gunshot wounds that were not life threatening. Contee said investigators believed that someone in a passing vehicle opened fire, and a reward of up to $60,000 was offered for information leading to an arrest.  

Community members had confronted Mayor Muriel Bowser at a previous news conference immediately after the mass shooting, demanding officials take immediate action against nearby liquor stores they claim are attracting violence amid other recent shootings in the same area. 

Contee said Tuesday an additional 16 individuals are in custody charged with narcotics conspiracy in federal district court. Courtney's father is one of the individuals who have been indicted for "wreaking havoc" on the community through gun violence in that neighborhood. 

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Washington, like many other large cities in the U.S., is seeing a spike in violent crime and homicides. Homicides in the district are rising for the fourth consecutive year, with over 100 killings already reported in 2021.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.