On a Sunday evening in April 2006, Jacque Pate, a 23-year-old male, was fatally shot in the Temple Hills area of Prince George's County, Maryland. A promising senior and basketball player at Bowie State University, Pate was driving a rented Chevrolet TrailBlazer through the parking lot of an apartment complex in the 4000 block of 28th Avenue when the vehicle was struck by gunfire. A single bullet penetrated the rear window and struck Pate in the back of the head.
At the time of the incident, there were four other passengers in the vehicle with Pate, including a five-year-old child. Following the shooting, the passengers fled the vehicle for safety. Emergency services were called, and upon their arrival, Pate was pronounced dead at the scene.
The passengers later returned to cooperate with the investigation.
In the immediate aftermath, law enforcement officials stated that they had not identified any suspects and had not determined a motive for the shooting. It was unclear to investigators whether the vehicle Pate was driving was the intended target or if they had inadvertently driven into a crossfire. Despite the recovery of approximately 20 shell casings from the scene, the case has remained unsolved, with no public announcements of any arrests or named suspects in the years following the incident.
