Washington Reporter Shot Dead When Gang Member Used Her As Human Shield During Shootout

A Washington, D.C. reporter was shot dead this week when a gang member used the 27-year-old as a human shield during a shootout.

Family members say Charnice Milton was on her way back home after covering a community meeting and was in the midst of changing buses when the shooting started. Police say she was not the intended victim, but was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Police said a young man riding a dirt bike or moped drove near the bus, unleashing a hail of bullets. The intended victim then grabbed Charnice Milton, putting her between him and the shooter. The journalist was struck in the chest.

Ironically, it was Milton’s commitment to her crime-ridden neighborhood that may have led to her death. After getting a master’s degree from the prestigious and exclusive Newhouse School of Communications at Syracuse University, Milton turned down the chance to work for larger media outlets so she could stay in the place where she had grown up.

Milton worked for Capital Community News for the last three years.

“She could have worked at any news media organization she wanted to,” her father, Ken McClenton, told WJLA-TV. “She had the credentials, she had the expertise, she had the knowledge, but she sacrificed and she stayed and wrote in Ward 8.”

Those who worked with the journalist shot dead this week remembered her as a dedicated reporter who worked hard at her craft.

“I would not say Charnice was a natural born reporter,” said journalism professor Aileen Gallagher, who taught Milton in the fall of 2010. “She was earnest and trusting and kind, qualities which are great in humanity, but not necessarily in a journalist and I think she knew that and she worked hard to overcome it. She was shy, so speaking to strangers didn’t come naturally to her. What I really admired about her was that she didn’t give up, but week after week after week, she just did it until it wasn’t hard anymore.”

Milton was also remembered by Andrew Lightman, managing editor of Capital Community News.

“We deeply regret the loss of our valuable colleague, Charnice Milton. Her death was senseless. She was an intrepid, talented community reporter. Our readers will miss her contributions.”

Police have not named a suspect in the shooting, and said both the shooter and the intended victim escaped. The journalist shot dead was one of six people killed over the last six days in Washington.

[Image via Getty Images]