Jul 3, 2025 - News

UMass student killed in D.C. shooting

Mike Allen

Photo illustration of a Metropolitan Police cruiser with lines radiating from it. — Photo illustration: Brendan Lynch/Axios. Photo: Daniel Slim/AFP via Getty Images

A House of Representatives intern, a rising senior at UMass Amherst, was fatally shot while walking in a busy part of Northwest D.C. on Monday night, Rep. Ron Estes (R-Kan.) announced.

D.C. police said the intern — Eric Tarpinian-Jachym, 21, of Granby, Mass. — was apparently an innocent bystander caught in a spray of bullets intended for someone else, The Washington Post reports.

Tarpinian-Jachym, who was majoring in finance with a minor in political science, joined Estes' office in June.

"I will remember his kind heart and how he always greeted anyone who entered our office with a cheerful smile," Estes said.

The shooting happened downtown near the huge Walter E. Washington Convention Center. Investigators say "multiple people climbed out of a car at Seventh and M and began firing into a group of people," The Post reports:

"Tarpinian-Jachym was walking in the area of Seventh and M streets NW shortly before 10:30 p.m. Monday when officers nearby heard gunshots. They hurried to the scene and found three people shot: Tarpinian-Jachym, a woman and a 16-year-old boy."
"All three were taken to hospitals. Police said Tarpinian-Jachym died Tuesday."

Read the police statement

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UMass student killed in D.C. shooting

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