Police investigate fatal overnight shooting in Suitland apartment, victim identified

Prince George’s County police were investigating a fatal overnight shooting in Suitland after officers found a man shot inside an apartment in the 3500 block of Terrace Drive shortly after 2:45 a.m. Monday. The victim, identified by police as 23-year-old Dwight Young of Suitland, was taken to a hospital and later died.

Detectives said all parties involved have been identified and are known to each other, and they do not believe the shooting was random. That narrows the case to a likely personal dispute or relationship-linked confrontation, even as investigators continue interviewing witnesses and analyzing evidence.

Police said detectives are also consulting with the Prince George’s County State’s Attorney’s Office about possible charges. The case is being tracked under number 26-0026215, and homicide detectives can be reached at 301-516-2512. Anonymous tips can be submitted through Prince George’s County Crime Solvers at 1-866-411-TIPS or through the P3 Tips app.

For Suitland residents, the killing lands hard because it unfolded inside a residential building before dawn, in a community where apartment corridors and parking lots can become the front line of public safety. Suitland had a population of 25,839 in the 2020 Census, and the Census Bureau’s latest estimates show a community that is 88.0% Black, with a median gross rent of $1,707. Those numbers reflect a dense, rental-heavy area where one shooting can quickly ripple through a building and the surrounding block.

The broader county context is just as stark. Prince George’s County police say the department serves nearly 900,000 residents and business owners, and its daily crime report showed 16 murders year-to-date through May 16. In that environment, a killing inside an apartment is not just a single case file; it becomes part of the larger question of how safely residents can live in shared housing across the county.

The unanswered questions now matter most to neighbors: what happened inside the apartment, what led to the shooting, and whether the dispute that police say involved known parties had already surfaced before the gunfire. In a separate Suitland case on Parkway Terrace Drive, police later made arrests after an apartment shooting, a reminder that violence inside these buildings can carry consequences long after the sirens fade.