On December 3, 2025, Darnell Hawkins Jr, a 23-year-old man from Washington, D.C., was fatally shot in the food court of the MGM National Harbor hotel and casino in Oxon Hill, Maryland. Investigators say the assailant had been lying in wait; surveillance footage reportedly shows the suspect approaching Hawkins and opening fire, striking him multiple times. Hawkins was pronounced dead at the scene despite a law enforcement and medical response.

Prince George’s County detectives used security video to identify the shooter as 22-year-old Benjamin Williams of Fort Washington. Police believe the two men were acquainted, though no specific motive was released. Williams fled after the shooting but was located and arrested in College Park on the morning of December 4, charged with first- and second-degree murder, first- and second-degree assault, and use of a firearm in the commission of a violent crime, and ordered held without bond. The casino’s food court was briefly closed during the investigation.

If anyone witnessed the shooting or has information about Hawkins’ movements that morning, please share what is known with investigators.