17-year-old Diego Rafael Turcios Avalos has been charged as an adult after shooting a 13-year-old in Westfield Wheaton Mall.
On Friday, July 31, at around 6 p.m., county police officers were dispatched to Westfield Wheaton Mall at 11160 Veirs Mill Road in Wheaton following reports of an active shooter.
Prior to the officers arriving, Montgomery County Emergency Communications Center dispatchers received over 23 calls that reported the suspect shooting at people on the second floor of the mall, officials say. The callers also reported seeing the suspect in all black clothing.
The police entered the mall on the lower level and found Diego Rafael Turcios Avalos lying on the floor outside the entrance to Dick’s Sporting Goods where he had been apprehended by a security guard. Officers arrested Turcios Avalos and found a black 9-millimeter handgun in his possession.
During their search, officers found a 13-year-old boy with a gunshot wound to his ankle. They applied a tourniquet before he was taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. The shooting was near a Cinnabon and a children’s play area.
Officers reviewed mall surveillance video and discovered that at around 5:58 p.m. a group of teenagers walked past Turcios Avalos who sat at a table near Cinnabon. Turcios Avalos stood up, revealed a gun, and then shot at the group of teenagers.
After the shooting, Turcios Avalos fled toward Dick’s Sporting Goods where an armed security guard saw him with a gun. The guard ordered him to the ground and detained him until police arrived.
Turcios Avalos is being charged with attempted second-degree murder, first-degree assault, use of a firearm in the commission of a violent felony, carrying a loaded handgun on his person and possession of a firearm by a minor. He is being held at the Central Processing Unit pending a bond hearing.
Police are still investigating the incident. MCM will update the story as more information becomes available.
Video shows the shooting that occurred inside of Wheaton Mall this evening. A 13 year-old boy was shot in the leg and another juvenile was taken into custody. pic.twitter.com/8JSRb8Tjgs
— The DC MD VA Live (@TheDMVLive) August 1, 2026
