A U.S. marshal shot a suspected carjacker near the home of Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor last week. Kentrell Flowers, 18, was shot after allegedly pointing a firearm in “an apparent attempt to carjack” two marshals early Friday, Washington police said. The shooting occurred on the 2100 block of 11th Street, which is near Sotomayor’s residence. The U.S. Marshals Service confirmed to NBC News that deputies were part of a unit protecting the residences of Supreme Court justices but did not provide additional details. The Daily Mail was the first to report that the incident occurred near Sotomayor’s home.
According to a federal complaint filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, two marshals were parked in a government-issued vehicle at 1:17 a.m. when a silver van pulled up alongside them. Flowers got out of the van to approach the driver’s side door and pointed a gun through the driver’s window, the complaint said. One of the marshals, who was not identified, used his department-issued gun to fire four times at the suspect. One of the shots hit Flowers in the mouth, the complaint said. The silver van that Flowers exited fled as the marshals gave him first aid. Flowers was taken for treatment at a hospital, where he was arrested, according to the complaint. A .40-caliber Smith & Wesson was found in Flowers’ right pants pocket, it said. “It had (0) rounds in the chamber, and (8) rounds of .40 caliber ammunition in a 13-round capacity magazine,” the complaint said.
A Washington police detective recovered video of the shooting, the complaint said, which showed someone exiting a van and approaching the marshals’ car, authorities said. NBC News has not viewed the video. Detectives were able to confirm that the car was a 2017 silver Toyota Sienna that had been carjacked, the complaint said. Police said in a news release that the internal affairs unit is investigating the shooting as it does all “law enforcement officer-involved shootings in the District of Columbia.” The case will then be sent to the U.S. attorney’s office for review. Police also said a second marshal from another vehicle had also responded and fired a service weapon.
Flowers has been charged in federal court with attempted carjacking and assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers using a dangerous weapon. Court records do not list an attorney for Flowers. A phone number was not listed for Flowers in a search of public records. The Supreme Court did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The shooting was near an address linked to Sonia Sotomayor, public records show. A deputy U.S. Marshal allegedly shot an 18-year-old who tried to carjack him while he was on guard outside a Supreme Court justice’s home in Washington, D.C., according to officials. The shooting unfolded outside of the apartment where Justice Sonia Sotomayor lives, according to public records. Two deputy Marshals were parked in separate cars when, at about 1:15 a.m. Friday, the suspect approached one of the Marshals and pointed a handgun at him in an apparent carjacking attempt, according to D.C.’s Metropolitan Police Department.
Both Marshals fired their service weapons, police said. The suspect, 18-year-old Kentrell Flowers, was shot and suffered non-life-threatening injuries, police said. “The Deputy U.S. Marshals involved in the shooting incident were part of the unit protecting the residences of U.S. Supreme Court justices,” a U.S. Marshals spokesperson said. “As a general practice, the U.S. Marshals don’t discuss specifics of protective details.” The carjacking attempt appears to be random. Flowers was arrested and charged with armed carjacking, carrying a pistol without a license, and possession of a large capacity ammunition feeding device, according to police.
“The officer-involved shooting incident remains under investigation by the Metropolitan Police Department Internal Affairs Division’s Force Investigations Team, which investigates all law enforcement officer-involved shootings in the District of Columbia,” the police department said Tuesday. Last year, Secret Service agents protecting President Joe Biden’s granddaughter, Naomi Biden, were also victims of an attempted carjacking outside of a D.C. home. Violent crime is down 30% in D.C. this year compared to last year, according to the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia. Homicides have decreased by 27% and motor vehicle theft dropped by 33%.
A teenage suspect was shot by US Marshals on Friday after allegedly attempting to carjack Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor’s federal bodyguards outside her home, DailyMail.com can exclusively reveal. Metropolitan Police Department confirmed it was investigating a shooting that took place in Northwest Washington, DC. where two marshals were on-duty working ‘a protective detail’ in the early hours of July 5. A Deputy US Marshal was sitting in his car outside the top judge’s condominium at 1:15am when 18-year-old Kentrell Flowers approached, pointed a handgun at him, and tried to steal his vehicle, according to a police report obtained by DailyMail.com.
Local police issued a press release about the incident last week, but did not mention its connection to Sotomayor. ‘The suspect exited a vehicle, approached one of the Marshals, and pointed a handgun at him in an apparent attempt to carjack him,’ a DC Metropolitan Police Department press release said. ‘The Marshal drew his service weapon and fired several shots at the suspect. A second Marshal from another vehicle also responded and fired his service weapon. US Deputy Marshals were on-duty working a protective detail near Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor’s DC home on Friday when the incident unfolded, police said. A police report obtained by DailyMail.com revealed the incident took place on 11th Street in northwest DC where Sotomayor owns a condo. ‘The suspect was transported to a local hospital for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries. No law enforcement officers were injured.’
Flowers, 18, was arrested and charged with armed carjacking, carrying a pistol without a license, and possession of a large capacity ammunition feeding device. A police report obtained by DailyMail.com revealed the location of the incident at a residential street in North West DC where Sotomayor owns a condo, and the US Marshals Service (USMS) confirmed to DailyMail.com that the officers involved were part of her protection team. The report said police recovered the black and silver Smith & Wesson 40VE handgun Flowers allegedly used for the attempted carjacking. The Metro PD report named the first Marshal as ‘Deputy US Marshal Black’, and did not name the second officer.
‘The Deputy U.S. Marshals involved in the shooting incident were part of the unit protecting the residences of U.S. Supreme Court justices,’ a USMS spokeswoman told DailyMail.com. ‘As a general practice, the U.S. Marshals don’t discuss specifics of protective details.’ USMS does not disclose the names of personnel involved in shooting incidents until all investigations are complete. A statement of facts filed in DC district court by Deputy US Marshal Tyler Wells on Friday said that Flowers pulled up at 1:17am in a silver mini-van, got out and pointed his gun through the driver’s side window of the federal officer’s unmarked car parked on 11th Street. ‘The Complainant pulled out his department-issued firearm and fired approximately four times at Defendant Flowers through the window, striking Flowers in the mouth,’ the July 5 filing said. ‘The Complainant provided first aid to Flowers, while the silver van fled the scene traveling northbound on 11th Street Northwest.’
The Marshals found a matching silver 2017 Toyota Sienna mini-van in a database of jacked vehicles, but have not yet recovered the car or driver. The shooting is under investigation by the PD’s Internal Affairs Division Force Investigations Team, and the department said the case ‘will be independently reviewed by the United States Attorney’s Office.’ It is not the first high-profile attempted car-related theft in DC in recent months. On November 12, 2023, Secret Service agents stationed outside the home of President Joe Biden’s granddaughter Naomi opened fire on two teens who were fleeing after allegedly stealing over $1,000 of gear from a black Ford Expedition ‘used for members of the first family’, according to court documents. Robert Kemp, 19, was arrested on February 7. A 14-year-old male accomplice was arrested later that month after a separate alleged armed carjacking. An affidavit from a Secret Service agent says the boy was wearing a court-ordered GPS ankle bracelet during the theft from Naomi’s car.
Last October, Congressman Henry Cuellar was carjacked at gunpoint near his DC home by three armed robbers in knit caps and ski masks. Texas Republican Cuellar was unharmed. Law enforcement eventually retrieved the car. His phone and computer were also recovered from his white Toyota crossover – as well as his dinner he had bought from Whole Foods. ‘What really got me upset was they took my sushi,’ the congressman told CNN at the time. DC police reported more than 900 carjackings and over 6,000 stolen vehicles in 2023, a sharp rise on the previous year. The DC council member for the district where Sotomayor’s condo is located, Brianne Nadeau, is facing a recall motion for supporting the Defund the Police movement. A group campaigning for her recall said Nadeau voted for budgets that ‘defunded the police by $15 million’ and ‘passed legislation to reduce penalties on violent crime, illegal gun crimes, and carjackings’. On their website, the Committee to Recall Brianne Nadeau points to DC crime data showing a 100% increase in homicides, 56% increase in assaults with a dangerous weapon, and 48% increase in motor vehicle theft between 2022 and 2023.
Sotomayor bought her DC two-bed condo in 2012 for $660,000, now estimates it to be worth $861,480. The New York Times described the area as ‘scruffy’ in a 2013 story about her purchase, but Sotomayor said it reminded her of her New York East Village roots. ‘It has a touch of the East Village in it,’ she told the paper. ‘I picked it because it’s mixed. I walk out and I see all kinds of people, which is the environment I grew up in and the environment I love.’
Source: NBC News, Daily Mail
