A college freshman who had returned to her family home in Washington, D.C., for spring break was fatally shot Monday night in Northeast D.C. Ayana J. McAllister, 19, was pursuing her studies in criminal justice at St. Augustine’s University in North Carolina.
According to the Washington Post, McAllister and another woman were both shot in the 4300 block of Benning Road Northeast. The second woman did not suffer life-threatening injuries.
McAllister’s aunt said her niece was a bystander, watching a friend who was helping to film a music video, when the shots were fired. It was not clear if the other woman who was shot was the friend about whom the aunt spoke. No motive for the shooting has been determined.
At first, an account from police Monday night indicated that both victims initially appeared to be conscious and breathing. However, the homicide unit was then alerted. A handgun was reportedly used in the shooting, which also resulted in at least two cars being damaged.
“At this point,” police spokesperson Dustin Sternbeck said of McAllister, “we are not in a position to say whether she was the intended target or not.”
As the Post notes, McAllister was continuing a family tradition by attending St. Augustine’s. Her father was in the class of 1988, and her sister Ndaja is also a student at the university.
University President Everett B. Ward requested prayers for “this celebrated and respected Saint Augustine’s family, Anthony McAllister ’88, wife, Tyreese, and daughter Ndaja ... as they mourn the tremendous loss.”
Read more at the Washington Post.