Gaithersburg, MD – A 17-year-old has been charged as an adult following a shooting inside Westfield Wheaton Mall that left a 13-year-old injured.
On Friday, July 31, 2026, at approximately 6 p.m., 4th District officers responded to Westfield Wheaton Mall, located at 11160 Veirs Mill Road, for the report of an active shooter.
Before officers arrived, Montgomery County Emergency Communications Center dispatchers received more than 23 calls reporting that the suspect was shooting at people on the mall’s second level. Callers also reported that the suspect was wearing all black clothing.
Officers entered the mall through the lower level and located the suspect, later identified as Diego Rafael Turcios Avalos, lying on the floor outside the entrance to Dick’s Sporting Goods. Officers took Turcios Avalos into custody and secured a black 9mm handgun.
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As officers searched the area, they located a 13-year-old boy with a gunshot wound to his ankle. The shooting occurred near a Cinnabon and a children’s play area, where children were actively playing at the time. Officers applied a tourniquet before the victim was transported to an area hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
During the investigation, detectives reviewed mall surveillance video. The video showed that at approximately 5:58 p.m., a group of teenagers walked past Turcios Avalos, who was seated at a table near Cinnabon. Detectives determined that Turcios Avalos stood up, produced a handgun and fired at the group of teenagers.
Following the shooting, Turcios Avalos ran from the area toward Dick’s Sporting Goods, where an armed security officer witnessed him with the handgun and ordered him to the ground. The security officer detained Turcios Avalos until officers arrived.
Turcios Avalos, of Silver Spring, has been charged with attempted second-degree murder, first-degree assault, use of a firearm in the commission of a violent felony, carrying a loaded handgun on his person and possession of a firearm by a minor.
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Turcios Avalos is being held at the Central Processing Unit pending a bond hearing.
The investigation is ongoing.
Read the original article at mcpd