21-year-old congressional intern shot dead

A 21-year-old congressional intern was tragically gunned down in Washington D.C. this week in what police believe was a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Eric Tarpinian-Jachym, a rising senior at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, was fatally shot near the Walter E. Washington Convention Center late on Tuesday night (July 1), WWLP reports.

Police say he was not the intended target but was caught in a spray of bullets just after 10:30 p.m. The gunfire also hit a 16-year-old boy and an adult woman, both of whom survived. Eric, however, was found unconscious at the scene and later died at hospital.

He was in the capital for a summer internship with Kansas Congressman Ron Estes, and had been pursuing a degree in finance with a minor in political science. Originally from Granby, Massachusetts, Eric had big plans for a future in public service.