In the early hours of a summer morning in Washington, D.C., violence shattered the quiet of a Northeast neighborhood. On Sunday, July 9, 2023, 30-year-old Charles Sullivan, a resident of Southeast, D.C., was inside a Circle Seven Express convenience store in the 700 block of Kenilworth Avenue NE when gunshots rang out at approximately 12:24 a.m. Officers from the Metropolitan Police Department's Sixth District, who were near the scene and heard the shots, responded to investigate.
Upon
entering the establishment, police discovered Charles Sullivan suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. D.C. Fire and Emergency Medical Services were called to the scene, but after assessing his condition, they found no signs of life. Sullivan was pronounced dead at the location. An officer reported seeing an individual fleeing the scene with what appeared to be a rifle.
The investigation into the death of Charles Sullivan led to the identification of a suspect. On Friday, July 21, 2023, 18-year-old Antwain Ulmer of Cheverly, Maryland, was located and arrested in his hometown by members of the FBI Safe Streets Cross Border Task Force and the Capital Area Regional Fugitive Task Force. Ulmer was charged with First Degree Murder while Armed. Subsequently, on April 17, 2024, a grand jury in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia indicted Ulmer on multiple charges, including first-degree murder while armed, assault with intent to kill while armed, and other related firearm offenses. The indictment also included a charge for firing a shot that nearly struck another uninvolved shopper in the store. During a court hearing on January 10, 2025, it was suggested that Ulmer's defense may argue self-defense in the fatal shooting. If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of ninety years in prison.
