In the spring of 1975, a tragic event unfolded on the streets of Wheaton, Maryland, forever altering the lives of several families. On the evening of April 13th, a shooting spree cut short the life of 52-year-old Connie L. Stanley, a female resident of the Washington, D.C. area. The senseless act of violence was carried out by Michael Edward Pearch, an unemployed carpenter from Silver Spring.
That Sunday, Pearch, dressed in military fatigues and heavily armed, began a racially motivated
attack near the Wheaton Plaza shopping mall. He indiscriminately fired upon African American individuals. During this rampage, Connie L. Stanley was shot and killed as she was in a car on Georgia Avenue. Another woman in a nearby vehicle, Rosalyn Stanley, was also shot and wounded. In addition to the attack on the Stanleys, Pearch had already shot and killed 43-year-old John L. Sligh at the entrance of the mall and wounded another individual.
The violent spree continued as Pearch proceeded down the highway, targeting another car with African American occupants and wounding another victim. The terrifying sequence of events came to an end when two police officers who had witnessed the shootings confronted Pearch. After he fired at another vehicle, the officers ordered him to stop. When he did not comply, they opened fire, killing him at the scene. Eyewitnesses reported that Pearch appeared to be smiling during the horrific events. The investigation concluded that the gunman had intentionally targeted his victims based on their race, having bypassed vehicles with white occupants.
