WASHINGTON (WCVB) —Two teenagers were arrested on September 5 and a third suspect is being sought in connection with the fatal shooting of a Massachusetts college student who was working as a congressional intern in Washington, D.C.
Eric Tarpinian-Jachym, a UMass Amherst student, was one of three people shot on June 30 after police said he was caught in a dispute between rival groups. The Granby native was a rising senior at UMass Amherst, studying politics and finance, and had just started a summer internship in the office of Kansas Republican Rep. Ron Estes.
Chief Pamela Smith of the Metropolitan Police Department announced the arrests in the case Friday morning.
“Our thoughts and prayers remain with the family,” Smith said. “We hope news of these two arrests and a third one pending — I’m confident we’ll get the third one — give Eric’s loved ones some sense of peace.”
Smith said the investigation was led by a detective in the MPD’s Homicide Branch with support from several federal agencies. The U.S. Marshals Service helped to make the arrests Friday morning, she said.
Cmdr. Kevin Kentish of the MPD’s Criminal Investigations Division identified the arrested suspects as Kelvin Thomas Jr. and Jalen Lucas. Both of the suspects are 17-year-old residents of Washington, D.C.
