News Releases

Three Suspects Arrested in Connection with Shootings in Germantown and Damascus

For Immediate Release: Friday, October 31, 2025

Gaithersburg, MD – The Montgomery County Department of Police has arrested and charged three suspects in connection with multiple shootings that occurred in Germantown and Damascus between March 2024 and August 2025.

 

Detectives have charged 18-year-old Samuel Wisdom, of Germantown; 17-year-old Ai’Jai Tyrell Smith-Nelson, of Germantown; and 17-year-old Jaden Ochieng, of Clarksburg, for their involvement in a series of shootings, including incidents that took place in the Damascus Gardens community in Germantown.

 

On Monday, August 18, 2025, at approximately 2:42 a.m., officers responded to the 18800 block of Bent Willow Circle in Germantown for the report of a shooting. The caller reported that they heard the sound of a shot and a female scream.  A short time later, at 3:41 a.m., officers were called to the 20800 block of Gaelic Court for another shooting involving an SUV that had been struck by gunfire. Three female victims were inside the vehicle but were not injured.

 

Through the course of the investigation, detectives identified Wisdom as the suspect responsible for attempting to kill the three victims. He has been charged with three counts of attempted first-degree murder, three counts of first-degree assault, reckless endangerment, and multiple firearms-related offenses.

 

Investigators later determined that Wisdom, Smith-Nelson and Ochieng were also involved in a shooting that occurred several days later in the Damascus Gardens neighborhood. On Thursday, August 21, 2025, at approximately 6:48 p.m., officers responded to the 9800 block of Bethesda Church Road in Damascus for multiple reports of shots fired.

 

Responding officers located shell casings, damaged property and a shooting victim nearby in the Brigadier Place neighborhood. The victim was taken to an area hospital with serious injuries.

 

Detectives determined that all three suspects were in the area at the time of the shooting and were later seen together at a Germantown 7-Eleven in the 19400 block of Walter Johnson Drive. When officers approached, Ochieng ran from the store but was quickly apprehended. A loaded black 9mm Glock handgun was recovered on his person and later ballistically linked to the Damascus Bethesda Church Road shooting on August 21, 2025.  Smith-Nelson was arrested inside the 7-Eleven, where officers recovered a Taurus PT111 semiautomatic handgun on his person. That firearm was also connected to the Damascus Bethesda Church Road shooting. Both suspects were taken into custody without incident.

 

Ochieng has been previously charged for his involvement in two separate shootings. On Sunday, March 24, 2024, he allegedly attempted to shoot a student getting off a school bus near Neelsville Middle School on Archdale Road in Germantown. On Thursday, August 8, 2024, he allegedly shot at a person sitting on a park bench on Crystal Rock Drive. In both incidents, Ochieng used stolen vehicles to leave the scene.  When officers attempted to serve an arrest warrant for Ochieng at Northwest High School, he was found carrying a loaded firearm and taken into custody. That gun was ballistically linked to the previous shooting on Archdale Road on March 24, 2024, and on Crystal Rock Drive on August 8, 2024 and one other shooting in the region. 

 

On the day of the August 21, 2025 shootings, Ochieng had a court-ordered ankle monitor removed that morning.

 

Wisdom and Smith-Nelson remain in custody at the Montgomery County Central Processing Unit. Ochieng is also in custody in another jurisdiction. 

 

These remain an active and ongoing investigations. Anyone with information regarding these three suspects or the above crimes is asked to visit the Crime Solvers of Montgomery County, MD website at www.crimesolversmcmd.org and click on the “www.p3tips.com” link at the top of the page or call 1-866-411-8477. Tips with information leading to an arrest may be eligible for a reward from $250 up to $10,000. Tips may remain anonymous.

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Release ID: 25-524
Media Contact: S.D. Goff  
Categories: arrest , shooting