Jason Lamont Harrington Jr., an 18-year-old African American man, was shot and killed just before 1 a.m. on June 5, 2021, in Sanford, North Carolina. He was attending a graduation party at the Baymont Hotel when officers responded to a shooting in the hotel parking lot. Found with a gunshot wound, he was taken to the Central Carolina Hospital emergency room and died a short time later.

Investigators say the party had been held in a room rented by a parent for her son. Witnesses reported an altercation in the parking lot after which Jason was shot multiple times. Sanford police arrested a 16-year-old on charges of murder and possession of a firearm by a minor; a second teenager, 15, was later charged with first-degree murder and possession of a firearm by a minor and taken into custody by the state Division of Juvenile Justice. The Sanford Police Department continues to investigate.

If anyone who attended the party or was in the area that night has information, please come forward.