A 21-year-old congressional intern was shot Monday night after getting caught in targeted gunfire in Northwest Washington, D.C., police said.
Police and congressional officials identified the victim as Eric Tarpinian-Jachym, of Granby, Massachusetts, who died Tuesday after being shot near the intersection of 7th and M Street.
Investigators have recovered the suspect vehicle and stated that while the shooting was targeted, Tarpinian-Jachym was not among the intended victims.
Tarpinian-Jachym, who had been serving as an intern for Rep. Ron Estes (R-Kan.) since June, was a rising senior at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, where he was majoring in finance with a minor in political science.
According to D.C. Police Chief Pamela Smith, the incident began with an altercation between two groups that escalated into gunfire in the 1200 block of Seventh Street, Northwest.
The shooting, which occurred around 10:28 p.m. Monday, left three people wounded: Tarpinian-Jachym, who was found unconscious; a woman, who is now in stable condition; and a 16-year-old male who police believe was involved with the group that opened fire, police said. The teenager remains hospitalized.
The FBI and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) are now assisting in the investigation. Police have recovered a black Acura in a nearby jurisdiction connected to the shooting, and the FBI is working to enhance surveillance footage from the scene. The ATF is conducting ballistics analysis.
Rep. Estes and his wife, Susan, released a statement expressing their condolences to the Tarpinian-Jachym family.
"I will remember his kind heart and how he always greeted anyone who entered our office with a cheerful smile," Estes said in a press release. "We are grateful to Eric for his service to Kansas' 4th District and the country."
Estes has represented the Kansas 4th Congressional District since 2017 and currently serves on the House Committee on Ways and Means, Budget Committee, and Joint Economic Committee, and chairs the Social Security Subcommittee.
The Metropolitan Police Department is offering a reward of up to $25,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible. Anyone with information is urged to contact police at (202) 727-9099 or text tips to 50411.
BicFleetwood on July 3rd, 2025 at 14:02 UTC »
I interned for Congress.
No fucking way this rep ever MET this intern. I met the rep I worked for once in like 6 months of interning, and that was when he was telling me to get the fuck out of his way while I tried to shake his hand.
This was after I'd spent weeks helping organize a charity event, then spent an entire weekend playing craft service handing out food (even though the prep work I did was WAY more than what an intern should have been doing.) I had thought he was approaching me at the end of the event to, you know, acknowledge me. That was a mistaken assumption.
I did all of it for free by the way. They even made me sign a form that said "I'm not an employee, and the state doesn't owe me jack if I get injured or killed on the job."
He didn't have the time to shake my hand and say "thanks."
I guarantee you that rep doesn't even know the intern's name, even now. Somebody else wrote that statement. If you came up to him and grilled him on the spot, he wouldn't know the name of the dead intern.
EDIT: Funfact: There were two different forms for death threats. The first form was if someone threatened the Congressman. It was like 10 pages and went directly to the FBI. I had to sit down and get interrogated multiple times about threats I reported.
The second form was if someone threatened me. It was a quarter of a page and went directly into the trash can. I actually got scolded for wasting (unpaid) time filling it out once, when I could have been answering phones and getting threatened more.
notred369 on July 3rd, 2025 at 13:11 UTC »
Pretty cold to get the template condolences from the congressman that you were interning for.
jpiro on July 3rd, 2025 at 13:10 UTC »
"According to the Metropolitan Police Department, the shooting occurred around 10:28 p.m. Monday when multiple suspects emerged from a vehicle and opened fire on a group of people. Three victims were struck: Tarpinian-Jachym, an adult female, and a 16-year-old male."
Can't even tell from this if he was with those people, or just in the wrong place at the wrong time when gunmen were targeting someone else. Curious to see what investigations reveal.