18-year-old fatally shot in Bowie

Police in Prince George's County are investigating the death of an 18-year-old killed in Bowie.

Devante Marcus King was shot and killed in the backyard of a neighbor's house in the 13000 block of 6th Street at around 1:15 a.m. Thursday.

This was the first homicide in Bowie this year, but police say this shooting was not a random act.

A mother and daughter heard noises early Thursday morning and found the victim shot behind their house. Their windows were also hit by gunfire.

King, who lives just two blocks away from where he was shot, was taken to the hospital, but later died.

Police are looking for three men seen by witnesses running away from the scene. They are described as black males in their 20s with dreadlocks.

By day break on Thursday, police were canvassing the street for evidence.

Neighbors say they have been telling police about trouble in the area.

"I'm scared and all my family was just shocked because you don't know what to do," said neighbor Fatma Jalloh. And anybody that I tell, [they say] ‘you need to move from that place.'"

"Police have been coming around here just about every day in the last month," said Henry Brand.

When we asked him why he thought police were around more, Brand said, "I think the drug activity."

Bowie Police Chief John Nesky had a meeting with the community on Tuesday to talk about recent issues in the area.

"As the weather started to turn, we started to get more complaints about people hanging out in the wee hours of the morning making noise, being disruptive, lots of traffic coming through there," he said. "So we began to do more traffic intervention there. We did a lot more stops with people on the street, starting to gather information, field observations about who is in the area, and what they are up to."

Police say there is a $25,000 reward being offered for information leading to an arrest and indictment in this homicide.