On November 20, 2023, at about 3:09 p.m., 35-year-old Rodney Snead of District Heights, Maryland, was shot in the 4200 block of 4th Street Southeast in Washington, D.C., near Hendley Elementary School. The shooting occurred during school dismissal; staff moved students back inside and placed the building on lockdown. Officers from the Seventh District found Snead with a gunshot wound and he was pronounced dead at the scene. The Metropolitan Police Department’s Homicide Branch announced an investigation and said officers were looking for a dark-colored SUV seen in the area.

On January 5, 2024, the Capital Area Regional Fugitive Task Force arrested 22-year-old Cory Heard, who has no fixed address, on a D.C. Superior Court warrant. He was charged with Second Degree Murder while Armed in connection with Snead’s death and was transported to the Homicide Branch for processing. Reports indicate Heard rejected a plea offer of 18 to 22 years; the case is proceeding toward trial.

If anyone has information about the shooting, the vehicle observed that afternoon, or Heard’s whereabouts before his arrest, please share what is known.