Three illegal immigrants are facing charges after the shooting death of a 17-year old on his way to school in Loudoun County, Virginia last week.
According to The Washington Post, Danny Centeno-Miranda, a teen from El Salvador living with relatives in the D.C. suburb, was shot twice in the back on Friday about 50 yards from his bus stop.
Centeno-Miranda later died of the injuries at Inova Fairfax Hospital.
Three suspects, all male illegal immigrants, were arrested Saturday in connection with the shooting.
The Post reports that a 17-year-old, whose name was not released due to his age, is believed to have fired the shots that killed Centeno-Miranda. The other two arrestees, Henry Dominguez Vasquez, age 20, and Juan Aguirre Zelaya, age 18, were charged as accessories to the shooting and for possessing a firearm while illegally in the U.S.
“This was not a random incident,” The Post quoted Sheriff Mike Chapman. “The suspects and the victim were known to each other.”
He noted that officials are looking into the possibility that the shooting was gang-related.
“We’re looking into that there may be some gang affiliation, however we don’t know what the reason was just yet for the incident taking place,” Chapman said.
Centeno-Mirand attended and was on his way to Park View High, which was place on lockdown following the shooting Friday morning. The school’s head of security, Suzanne Devlin, told The Post that there are students with gang affiliations at the school.
“I don’t think that there’s any question that school likely has gang activity,” Devlin said. “What I’ve been told by kids themselves is ‘We understand the ramifications of assuming our ganghood in the schools.’ So they do what they can to leave it at the door.”
The three suspects were arraigned Tuesday and remain in custody, according the Washington Times.