In the autumn of 2012, a burst of gunfire shattered the midday calm in Northeast Washington, D.C., leaving a family grieving and a community searching for answers. On Thursday, October 25, 2012, 31-year-old Anthony Antonio Watts, a Black male known to his loved ones as 'Buck,' was fatally shot. The incident occurred around 12:39 p.m. in the 500 block of 36th Street, NE, near the intersection with Benning Road.
Emergency services responded to reports of the shooting, but by the time they arrived, Watts had succumbed to his injuries. He was officially pronounced dead at the scene. In the immediate aftermath, the Metropolitan Police Department launched a homicide investigation, appealing to the public for any information that might lead to the apprehension of those responsible.
Early in the investigation, authorities were reportedly searching for a black, four-door Toyota Camry with Pennsylvania license plates that was seen leaving the area.
The shooter was described only as a young Black man. Despite these initial leads and the ongoing efforts of detectives, there have been no publicly announced arrests in the case, and no suspects have been officially named. The death of Anthony Watts remains an unsolved homicide, one of the many lingering wounds in the city's history of gun violence. A street shrine was created in his memory near where he was killed, a poignant symbol of a life cut short and a case that, for now, remains without a final chapter of justice.
