Seventeen-year-old Tristan Johnson was killed by gunfire on the 1900 block of C Street SE in Hill East, near the Stadium-Armory Metro, just before 3 p.m. on November 8, 2025. First District officers found him conscious with an upper-body gunshot wound; D.C. Fire and EMS transported him to a nearby hospital where he was pronounced dead a short time later.

Tristan was a 2023 graduate of Ingenuity Prep and a member of the school’s founding kindergarten class. Family, classmates, and school staff remembered his easy, contagious smile, loyalty, and big ambitions — from plans for a vending-machine business to owning a trucking company. A fundraiser for his mother, Juanita Sampler, described his death as senseless gun violence and highlighted the impact he had on those who knew him.

Police say the Metropolitan Police Department’s Homicide Branch has an active investigation, no arrests have been announced, no suspects publicly identified, and no definitive motive confirmed; one working theory reported to media suggested the attackers may have been trying to steal his jacket. Authorities are offering up to $25,000 for information leading to an arrest and conviction. If anyone knew Tristan or saw what happened that afternoon, please share what you know with investigators.