A former Trump administration official and married father of three is fighting for his life after he was shot Monday night by a gunman suspected of carrying out a string of carjackings in the greater DC area.
Mike Gill, who served as chief operating officer of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission while Donald Trump was president, was seriously injured in the shooting and remains in the hospital Tuesday night, his family told Fox5 Washington DC.
The gunman shot dead another victim whose car he stole and is believed to be responsible for three more attempted or successful carjackings — as well as two incidents in which he fired at police.
The suspect was eventually killed by police after approaching them with two guns in Maryland.
The man, who has not been named, began his crime spree around 5:45 Monday afternoon by entering Gill’s car parked outside an office building on K Street NW, shooting him in the head before fleeing on foot, police said.
Authorities are investigating if he was trying to steal Gill’s vehicle when he shot him.
Gill, who is senior vice president for capital markets at the Housing Policy Council and previously served as a Republican representative on the DC Board of Elections, was picking up his wife from work at the time of the shooting, according to the Washington Post.
Mike Gill, who served as chief operating officer of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission during Donald Trump’s presidency, was shot Monday night. LinkedIn
Witness Yolanda Douglas told the newspaper she saw the victim lying on the sidewalk with the car door open and one leg still in the passenger side of the car.
He was wearing a shirt and sweater and his hands were shaking as blood pooled around his head.
Douglas then saw a woman come out of a building on the block screaming, “Oh my God, that’s my husband” before running towards him and grabbing his hand.
When paramedics arrived and loaded him onto a stretcher, Gill’s car keys and another small metal object fell from him, he said.
Gill with his wife and three children pictured just two weeks earlier. Sean Gill / Facebook
One of the first responders said it was a bullet casing, confirming that he had been shot, Douglas told the Washington Post.
Gill’s family described him as an “extraordinary husband, father, friend and colleague” with a “wonderful sense of humor” in a statement to Fox5 Tuesday.
“He was friends with everyone – and always looked for opportunities to bring people together and make them feel included and loved,” the statement said. “His warmth and kindness touched the lives of many, evident by the outpouring of love and support his family has received during this difficult time.”
About an hour after allegedly shooting Gill, the suspect tried, unsuccessfully, to carjack another vehicle on Third Street NE.
Ten minutes later, the gunman killed driver Alberto Vasquez Jr., 35, and stole his gray 2016 Chrysler 200, authorities said.
Investigators linked the three incidents and identified a suspect they believe is responsible for all three crimes.
But the car thief continued his criminal activities, ditching the Chrysler for a Toyota Camry he reportedly stole from a rideshare driver in Montgomery County.
He then abandoned the car and stole a Nissan Rogue in University Park in Prince George’s County, police said.
Early the next day, at 2:30 a.m., authorities learned that someone driving a Nissan fired at a Maryland State Police cruiser that had stopped to assist a disabled vehicle on I-95 near Route 198.
The bullet hit his hood and missed the soldier, officials said.
The same Nissan was the vehicle used in a drive-by shooting with a marked DC police car on DC 295 at Exit 1, authorities said, according to the Washington Post.
At least one bullet hit the driver’s door, but the police were not injured.
Around 4:30 a.m., police in New Carrollton spotted an empty Nissan on a commercial strip in Prince George’s County, officials said.
The Metropolitan Police released a photo of the suspect involved in Monday’s shooting. Metropolitan Police Department
The suspect then approached the officer with two firearms and was shot dead by two police officers who each fired at the man.
The violence comes after the nation’s capital saw car thefts more than double from 2022 to 2023 to 950 incidents, the Washington Post reported.
But officials believe the motive for the Monday-Tuesday rampage was not material gain but the work of an unhinged man with a mental disorder.
DC Mayor Muriel Bowser said the crime was “indiscriminate” and “unthinkable,” according to the outlet.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
