A 15-year-old boy is suspected of fatally shooting his mother and young brother and wounding his father Thursday in Clinton, Maryland.
Taledia Oxley and Asa Oxley, her son, were killed, Prince George’s County police said. She was 44, and he was 8.
The children’s father was shot and wounded. His injuries were not considered life-threatening.
Neighbors said the family also includes a toddler girl.
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The teen suspect was charged as an adult with murder. Police did not release his name, and court documents are sealed.
Police have not said how the teen got a gun.
Police responded to a large home on a hill in the 8500 block of Wendy Street at about 5:50 p.m. A shooting was reported. When they arrived, they found the woman and child dead and the man wounded.
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Chief of Police Malik Aziz described what officers saw.
“We found three victims – two victims fatally injured, one sustaining non-life-threatening injuries,” he said. “At the time, the family member described a suspect to us. The officers recognized that they may have known who the suspect was, immediately canvassed the neighborhood and found the described suspect and took that suspect into custody.”
The teen “admitted to the shootings,” police said in a statement. No information on a possible motive was released. The teen is in Department of Corrections custody.
Police said they previously had been called to the home in relation to the teen.
Neighbors described the teen suspect as quiet, hardworking and mild-mannered. He loved cooking and competed for a national cooking TV show.
Community members said they’re trying to make sense of the tragedy.
“This morning I woke up teary-eyed. I know these people,” neighbor Myra Marquez said. She described, “really good kids. Really hardworking. Always wanting to help.”
Just this week, the teen and his brother shoveled snow for neighbors.
“I just can’t connect it,” another neighbor said. “I’ve seen them walking down to the bus stop. He looks like a regular, quiet teenager.”
Marquez said, though, that she had recently seen the teen suspect and his mother arguing.
Friend Lacy Rose said she’s known the teen suspect since he was a child. She said he complained of an unhappy home life.
“It wasn't that he didn't want help; he didn't know how to get help,” Rose said.
She said she was concerned about what lies ahead for him now, and asked authorities to talk with him.
“Find out what happened and what has been happening and why. Find out his story from him,” she said.
Marquez conveyed her condolences to the victims.
“My prayers go out to the family, wholeheartedly. This is a time for healing,” she said.
People could be seen sobbing outside the home late Thursday after they spoke to officers.
Anyone with information on the crime is asked to contact police.
