Nov. 8, 2008
Arrest made in murder of Tai Lam
Around 7 p.m. on Friday, Montgomery County police arrested Hector Mauricio Hernandez, 20, of Takoma Park, for the murder of Blair freshman Tai Lam, according to Lieutenant Robert McCullagh. Detectives obtained a warrant for first degree murder. Hernandez is a member of the MS-13 gang, though police are still investigating whether gang involvement played a role in the shooting. He is being held without bond.
Lam, 14, and two others, 14 and 15, boarded a Ride On bus in Silver Spring with a large group of friends on Nov. 2. The three boys were shot around 11 p.m. after a verbal exchange with a group of four to five older men. When the bus stopped at Arliss Street and Piney Branch Road, the older group exited the bus. One of them fired into the back of the bus, hitting Lam and the two other boys, who attend Blair and Northwood High School.
The nature of the verbal exchange is still under investigation. "For unknown reasons...as one of those subjects was getting off, he turned and fired a handgun from the area of the rear door of the bus into the bus striking the three teens," according to a police press release. "That subject has been identified as Hernandez."
Lam died later that night, while the other boys were taken to Georgetown University MedStar Hospital in critical condition. Both have since been released and are recovering from their injuries.
Police are still searching for others on the bus and expect to make more arrests, according to McCullagh. "We are still looking for associates as witnesses or defendants," he said.
Hernandez will be brought before a grand jury for indictment, and the next step would be a Montgomery County circuit court trial. "They will eventually stand trial in Montgomery County for murder," McCullagh said.
Police are asking anyone with information related to the case to call (240) 773-5070. Callers may remain anonymous.
Lam, 14, and two others, 14 and 15, boarded a Ride On bus in Silver Spring with a large group of friends on Nov. 2. The three boys were shot around 11 p.m. after a verbal exchange with a group of four to five older men. When the bus stopped at Arliss Street and Piney Branch Road, the older group exited the bus. One of them fired into the back of the bus, hitting Lam and the two other boys, who attend Blair and Northwood High School.
The nature of the verbal exchange is still under investigation. "For unknown reasons...as one of those subjects was getting off, he turned and fired a handgun from the area of the rear door of the bus into the bus striking the three teens," according to a police press release. "That subject has been identified as Hernandez."
Lam died later that night, while the other boys were taken to Georgetown University MedStar Hospital in critical condition. Both have since been released and are recovering from their injuries.
Police are still searching for others on the bus and expect to make more arrests, according to McCullagh. "We are still looking for associates as witnesses or defendants," he said.
Hernandez will be brought before a grand jury for indictment, and the next step would be a Montgomery County circuit court trial. "They will eventually stand trial in Montgomery County for murder," McCullagh said.
Police are asking anyone with information related to the case to call (240) 773-5070. Callers may remain anonymous.
Discuss this Article
People like Hernandez are society.
Violence is never inevitable in a society, and saying that "people like Hernandez are society" is simply another example of what social psychologists call in-group favoritism and outgroup homogeneity ~ you assume that your "society" is better than the rest of "society" and that everyone who isn't in your group is all the same.
The murder of Tai Lam was a tragedy, and the question here is why? Why did this happen? And I don't just mean individual causation. There is a tendency to focus so much on the individual that we ignore the situational or systemic causes of violence. And we ignore those other causes at our own peril.
So should Hernandez be guilty, or should someone else be guilty for this, I'd like all of these to be flushed out into the open. In a quest for revenge, we should not let our reason be lost, nor in our quest to explain despair should we become despairing.
VIOLENCE IS INEVITABLE.
Y? Bc society isnt equal.
So long as there are have and have nots there will be liars, cheaters, theives, murderes, robbers, etc.
theres no words that can explain what
hernendez did alot of young kids are dieing over retarical reasons.Hernendez should just be left in jail for life to suffer.