Evening star., 1950-05-07
County Officials
Visit Scene Of
Boys Shooting
Investigation Pushed
In Fueitive's Death
From Police Bullet


police Of a 14-year-old fugitive
from the Industrial Home School
on the banks of the Patuxent
River Friday night.
The investigation into the slay-
ing of George william Mooney
ir., after he swan the river near
Upper Marlboro was in charge of
States Attorney A. Gwynn Bowie
and Police Chief Ralph Brown of
Prince Georges County.
The officials went over the
marshy land where the fleeing
youth fell with bullet through
his body after Prince Georges
County Policemen Lawson Peed
and BENJAMIN Richards and Pvts.
Robert Millin and William Wal
ters of the Anne Arundel County
force had fired a dozen warning
shots.
With Mr.. Bowie and Chief
Brown were 1t. Elon Turner Of
the Prince Georges force, Detec-
tive Vincent Free and Corpl. Peed.
The officials expected to take ad-
ditionaI statements from the
Anne Arundel policemen later.
Youth Called Dangerous"
Chief Brown said he was Inc
formed by Lawrence Prentiss,
chief counsellor at the school,
that the youth was about II years
old and "dangerous" because he
had been placed in the school as
the result Of. d shooting and
might get into further trouble.
The police chief said he passed
on this information to his men
before they left to search for the
youth. Mr.. Prentiss, according to
John r. Cairns, superintendent of
the school, was not available for
comment. Mr.. Cairns said he had
triedAto get in touch with Mr..
Prentiss yesterday. but he was
away from home.
Prince Georges County officers
said the, two officials from the
school were to have come to
Upper Marlboro for q conference
yesterday. but Mr.. Cairns did not
arrive because he could not find
his assistant at the time.
Second Commitments.
Young Mooney lived at 20
Fourteenth street NE. with his
mother and his stepfather, Charles
Myers, until he was committed to
the school in October after he had
critically wounded a 6-year-old
colored boy. Aubrey B. Jasper of
800 Fourteenth street NV.
Mooney shot the boy through the
neck with a stolen revolver.
1t was his second commitment
to the Industrial School. He had
been sent there once before for
burglary.
His grief stricken mother, Mrs.
Genevieve Myers, asked:
What kind of people are they?"
referring to the police. Don't
they have kids of their own? If
the kid had a gun and been in a
position to shoot. 1t might have
been different. They would have
caught him eventually anyway.
Why would any cop shoot him in
the back?"
DR.. James I. Boyd, Prince
Georges County medical officer,
reported after an autopsy that
the boy died almost at once from
q bullet which passed in and out
Of his body through his chest and
upper abdomen. Loss of the bull
let apparently makes 1t impossi-
BILE to determine which police
man fired the shot.
Mooney escaped from the school
March 2. About 4 pm. Friday,
Mr.. Prentiss took him in custody
in q Anne Arundel County res
taurant. When he escaped, Mr..
Prentiss called police.
Oficer Gives Account.
Pvt. Richards of the Prince
Georges County Police gave this
account Of the shooting:
When the police found him late
Friday in a restaurant at Way
sons Corner near Upper Marlboro
he ran toward the nearby Patux-
ent River and dived in. The five
policemen ran after hm. AS he
swan to a bit of land 100 yards
away, the police shouted at him
to stop but he continued.
He paused there long enough to
remove his shirt and shoes and to
call back that he would not stop
AS he began to swim the remain
ing rs yards to shore, police fired
warning shots over his head. He
reached the shore and vanished in
the dark as more shots were fired
Police obtained a boat and search
lights and two hours later, about
$50 pm, found his body near the
river bank.
The river is the dividing line
between Prince Georges and Anne
Arundel Counties at that point.
Besides his mother, young
Mooney is survived by his father
George w. Mooney. Alexandria;
two brothers, Donald G. Mooney
an Alexandria policeman, and
James M. Mooney, of the Fourth
eenth street address, and two sis
ters, Mrs. Mildred Schilling and
Mrs. Dorothy Reboltz, Washing
ton.
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