A suspect was arrested Tuesday and charged with killing a Kentucky teacher on Catholic University's campus, law enforcement sources told News4's Mark Segraves.
The suspect is 22-year-old Jaime Maceo, also known as Jaime Macedo, police said.
Maxwell "Max" Emerson, 25, was visiting D.C. and on his way to attend a professional development workshop for teachers at the Library of Congress when he was gunned down in front of Father O'Connell Hall the morning of Wednesday, July 5.
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Emerson's family said they were relieved to know that progress has been made in the case.
"Our prayers have been answered," Emerson's father, Steve Emerson, said in a phone call with Segraves. "We're happy an arrest in the murder of our son has been made. Not only happy that he's off the street but that the community and DC is a little bit safer."
The victim's sister, Ellen, called the arrest "a big relief" in a separate phone call with Segraves.
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"I'm in shock right now," she said. "I hope this will bring justice for Max."
D.C. police released surveillance photos on Friday of a suspect.
Macedo's arrest is the direct result of a phone tip from someone who recognized him on the Metro as the man from the surveillance photos, according to law enforcement.
In the photos, a man appears to be wearing a black t-shirt, gray sweatpants, and reddish or coral colored Croc-style shoes.
Max Emerson was found shot about 8:20 a.m. Wednesday in front of Father O'Connell Hall on Alumni Lane, police said.
D.C. police said surveillance video showed two men walking onto the campus from Michigan Avenue NE into the plaza in front of Father O'Connell Hall. After a few minutes, one of the men shot the other before running off, police said.
Investigators believed the two men knew each other, police said Wednesday. But Emerson's family pushed back on that statement, saying there was no way that he knew the shooter, and they didn't know anyone in D.C.
D.C. police are offering a reward of up to $25,000 to anyone that gives them information that leads to an arrest and conviction in the case.
Emerson's mother, Chandra Emerson, said she, Max and his twin brother all came to the city on Saturday, July 1 to celebrate the Fourth of July before the teachers' workshop started on Wednesday. They were all staying at Trinity Washington University in Northeast, she said.
On Wednesday morning, Max Emerson left the university to walk to the Metro station nearby and head to the workshop. A while later, his mother said she received a strange message from him.
"I had gotten a snap earlier in the morning that said, 'Help,' and then some jumbled words that I couldn't read," Chandra Emerson said in an interview with WAVE, an NBC affiliate station in Louisville, Kentucky.
At first she thought he sent the message by accident. But then she realized it said, "Help. I'm being robbed at gunpoint," she said.
Chandra Emerson said she went to the Metro station with her other son and told Metro police about the message. Detectives eventually came and told them he had been shot and killed on Catholic University's campus nearby.
"I was shocked more than anything else. Deep despair," she said. "My other son, his twin brother, was with me and we held each other and cried and just kept saying that we have to go on and we have to be as Max would want us to be, which his thing was 'Champions find a way,' and that's what we're doing."
Emerson was a social studies teacher and assistant wrestling coach at Oldham County High School in La Grange, Kentucky, a spokesperson for Oldham County Schools confirmed.
Family members told News4 that Emerson, from Crestwood, Kentucky, won a grant to attend the three-day workshop for teachers at the Library of Congress.
"Max was the most … go-getter person that you will meet. He was the champion in all things in his mind, soul, heart, spirit. He was a very strong Christian," Chandra Emerson said. "He cared about people. He was a leader. He was a great teacher. He cared about students."
Chandra Emerson said their family loved visiting D.C. and had stayed at Trinity Washington University many times in the past.
She and her sons went to see the Fourth of July fireworks show on the National Mall the night before Max was killed.
"Max said something like it just brought a tear to his eye because … he was moved by the fireworks and the spectacle of it all," she said.
Police said neither the suspect nor Emerson was affiliated with Catholic University.
Stay with News4 for updates to this developing story.
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