Rafael Adolfo Gomez was 34 when he was shot on the morning of Thursday, July 13, 2023, near a steam plant project on the Howard University campus in Northwest Washington, D.C. He had just arrived for a 6 a.m. construction shift, called his wife to say he’d gotten to work, and minutes later was shot; emergency crews took him to a hospital where he died. Family remembered him as a deeply religious man who emigrated from El Salvador, lived in Beltsville with his wife Jazmin Flores, and played Sunday soccer with the Ancla de Oro team.

Metropolitan Police investigators treating the death as an attempted robbery sought a white Nissan SUV with Maryland plates and offered up to a $25,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction. On July 31, 2023, a 14-year-old from Northeast D.C. was arrested and charged with felony murder while armed; prosecutors say he was one of at least four people involved in a two-hour crime spree that morning. A homicide detective testified security footage shows two masked figures approach Gomez, a scuffle, and suspects fleeing in a vehicle as Gomez fell. No positive identification of the arrested teen was reported; police have identified another juvenile but no further arrests have been announced.

Anyone with information is asked to call 202-727-9099 or text tip line 50411.