Officials have revealed details of a shooting that occurred in front of the home of a Supreme Court justice last week — an incident that left one man hospitalized after an encounter with two deputy U.S. marshals.
The incident unfolded early Friday morning outside of Justice Sonia Sotomayor’s Washington home.
According to police records cited by The Hill, shots were fired during an attempted carjacking.
Authorities said 18-year-old Kentrell Flowers pulled up next to two deputy marshals who were posted outside of Sotomayor’s home, the report said.
The men, inside an unmarked vehicle, likely appeared to be civilians and an easy target.
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Flowers allegedly approached the driver’s side of the deputies’ vehicle and threatened them with a firearm.
The deputy marshals opened fire, striking him once in the mouth. The injury sent Flowers to a local hospital, where he was later officially placed under arrest.
Authorities say a minivan Flowers initially used to arrive at the scene was stolen.
The U.S. Marshals Service would not confirm that the deputies were serving as a security detail for Sotomayor or her home.
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“The Deputy U.S. Marshals involved in the shooting incident were part of the unit protecting the residences of U.S. Supreme Court justices,” the Marshals Service said in a statement. “As a general practice, the U.S. Marshals don’t discuss specifics of protective details.”
On the day of the shooting, the D.C. Metropolitan Police announced an investigation was underway.
“The officer involved shooting incident remains under investigation by the Metropolitan Police Department Internal Affairs Division’s Force Investigations Team, which investigates all law enforcement officer involved shootings in the District of Columbia,” the department said.
“The facts and evidence in the case will be independently reviewed by the United States Attorney’s Office,” it said.
The department’s release said Flowers was charged with armed carjacking, carrying a pistol without a license and possession of a large capacity ammunition feeding device.
A photo attached to the release showed a handgun recovered at the scene.
Despite the presence and protection of multiple agencies and law enforcement groups, carjacking is nothing new for big political names in Washington.
In October, Democratic Rep. Henry Cuellar of Texas was carjacked by three armed men who absconded with his vehicle.
Cuellar left the encounter unhurt, but not everyone escapes these violent incidents.
In January, Mike Gill, who worked in the administration of former President Donald Trump, was shot dead during a carjacking in the nation’s capital.
