In the quiet evening of April 16, 2019, the life of 18-year-old Tray Dawkins was tragically cut short in a burst of gunfire in his hometown of Germantown, Maryland. A former student and athlete at Northwest High School, Dawkins was remembered for his passion for football and as a track runner who had won medals and ribbons. His mother described him as a young man who always brightened a room.
On that Tuesday night, shortly after 9:00 p.m., multiple calls flooded the emergency dispatch
center reporting a shooting in the parking lot on the 18700 block of Curry Powder Lane. When Montgomery County police officers arrived at the scene, they found a chaotic situation with two individuals, an adult male and a juvenile male, suffering from gunshot wounds. They were promptly transported to a local hospital with injuries that were not considered life-threatening.
Amid the confusion, it was discovered that two other adult male victims, one of whom was Tray Dawkins, had left the scene in a private vehicle, attempting to get to a hospital. While the other man sustained non-life-threatening injuries, Dawkins succumbed to his injuries. A subsequent investigation revealed that the four victims were together in the parking lot when at least one unknown suspect opened fire on the group before fleeing the scene.
Detectives with the Montgomery County Department of Police have stated that they do not believe the shooting was a random act and have suggested the incident may have been gang-related. Despite their ongoing investigation and public appeals for information, no arrests have been made in the case. The suspect or suspects responsible for the death of Tray Dawkins and the injury of three others remain at large. Authorities have urged anyone with information to come forward, and rewards have been offered by Crime Solvers of Montgomery County and the Victims' Rights Foundation for information that leads to an arrest. The case remains an open and unsolved homicide.
