In a tragic turn of events on a Thursday evening in Bladensburg, Maryland, 16-year-old Diego Gomez-Martinez, a male student at Bladensburg High School, lost his life in a shooting that authorities would later describe as accidental. On September 22, 2016, inside an apartment in the 4200 block of 58th Avenue, a group of teenagers were reportedly playing video games when a gun discharged, striking Gomez-Martinez.
He was rushed to a nearby hospital with a gunshot wound to his lower body but succumbed to his injuries several hours later, early on Friday morning.
Initial accounts of the incident were murky. At one point, Gomez-Martinez himself reportedly told authorities that he had accidentally shot himself while playing with the gun. However, investigators later determined that this was unlikely, as Gomez-Martinez was right-handed and could not have inflicted the wound himself. As the investigation progressed, a witness came forward stating they saw another teenager, 17-year-old Erik Lopez, holding a handgun immediately after the shot was fired. According to the witness, Lopez then placed the gun in a black bookbag and fled the apartment.
Following an investigation by the Prince George's County Police Department's Homicide Unit, Erik Steve Lopez of Landover Hills was arrested and charged in connection with the fatal shooting of his friend. Lopez was charged as an adult with manslaughter and a weapons offense. He was held on a $200,000 bond. The preliminary investigation concluded that Lopez was handling the weapon when it discharged and struck Gomez-Martinez. Friends and neighbors remembered Gomez-Martinez as a respectful young man who enjoyed playing basketball. His stepfather expressed surprise that his stepson was around a gun, stating he had never seen him with one or heard him talk about them.
