A man wanted in Washington, D.C., for opening fire on a city bus was previously charged with shooting a teenager on a neighborhood basketball court, yet he only spent a short time in jail.
Bijon Lamont Brown spent just four months in jail after he shot and wounded two teenagers near a basketball court in his neighborhood, WJLA reports.
On Feb. 16, Brown admitted to shooting at the two teenage brothers, hitting one as they walked to a convenience store, according to documents obtained by The Washington Post.
Brown was arrested and plead guilty in March to assault charges. On July 24, a judge sentenced him to six months in jail, but the time was suspended on the condition that he complete 12 months of probation
Now, just two months after his release in late July, and while still on probation, police are searching for Brown again after they say he fired several shots at a Metro bus full of passengers.
The incident forced buses to stop servicing three stops and alter routes because drivers were too afraid for their safety to go in the neighborhood.
Brown allegedly fired upon the bus, striking a man who was not the intended target, before fleeing the scene.
The victim also ran from the bus to a nearby apartment complex. He later was taken to a hospital where he was treated for non-life threatening injuries.
The bus shooting came in the middle of a massive spike in violent crime in the city and a large jump in murders. So far this year, 110 people have been murdered in the district, representing a more than 47 percent increase over the same time in 2014 and more than the total number of murders committed in all of last year.
D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser has attributed the rise in murders to an increase in the number of illegal guns on the street and in the hands of violent criminals. More than half of the people arrested for murder this year in the city had prior gun charges, according to D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier.
The problem with illegal guns is so bad, city leaders have started paying money to people who turn in illegal guns. Last month, Bowser and Lanier announced the city would pay a reward of $2,500 for a tip that leads to the seizure of an illegal gun and the reward would jump to $10,000 if the gun was used in a shooting.
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