Teen Triggerman Pleads Guilty in Rockville Metro Shooting

A 17-year-old Rockville boy pleaded guilty in Montgomery County Circuit Court on Monday to attempted second-degree murder in connection with a double shooting at the Rockville Metro station in May, The Gazette reported.

Kevin Q. Nguyen, of the 300 block of North Van Buren Street, faces up to 50 years in prison. Nguyen’s defense attorneys told The Gazette that they will seek “the shortest sentence possible” for Nguyen, who faces a mandatory minimum five years in prison for pleading guilty to use of a handgun in a violent crime.

Nguyen’s sentencing hearing is scheduled for March 12, The Washington Examiner reported.

Nguyen waived his right to appeal his sentence or have the case transferred to the juvenile justice system, The Gazette reported.

Read the full story in The Gazette. 

Nguyen’s plea comes six days after Tavares D. Harris, 18, of the 700 block of Fallsgrove Drive in Rockville, was found guilty of first-degree assault and use of a handgun in a violent crime in connection with the shooting. Prosecutors said Harris provided Nguyen the handgun Nguyen fired at the east entrance of the Rockville station about 2:30 p.m. on May 18.

Click here for coverage of the shooting and trial on Rockville Patch.

Harris faces up to 45 years in prison when he is sentenced Feb. 12.

A 16-year-old boy—who police said was the target—and an 18-year-old female bystander suffered non-life-threatening injuries in  at the busy station in Town Center.

Prosecutors said the shooting stemmed from an afterschool fight between Nguyen and the male victim, The Examiner reported. All three boys attended Richard Montgomery High School.

ABC7 broadcast clips of a rap video on YouTube that prosecutors said showed Harris rapping about the gun used in the shooting and a Twitter conversation in which prosecutors said the teens discussed plans for the shooting. 

Click here to see the ABC7 story.