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Gun shops that sold weapons trafficked into Washington, DC, sued by nation's capital and Maryland

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Gun shops that sold weapons trafficked into Washington, DC, sued by nation's capital and Maryland


WASHINGTON (AP) — Three gun shops that sold nearly three dozen firearms to a man who trafficked the weapons in and around Washington, D.C., are facing a new lawsuit jointly filed Tuesday by attorneys general for Maryland and the nation’s capital.

At least nine of those guns have now been found at crime scene and or with people wanted on warrants for violent offenses, D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb said. Many of the others are still unaccounted for.

“Our city is being flooded with illegal weapons,” he said. “All three of these stores ignored the red flags.”

The stores are accused of failing to respond to warning signs that the guns would be sold to other people, including bulk purchasing and repetitive purchases, known as straw purchasing, according to the lawsuit filed with the gun safety group Everytown Law.

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“Many of us watch the news and we wonder where all these guns are coming from,” said Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown. “Now we have part of the answer.”

The lawsuit is the first to be filed jointly and comes after other civil suits against gun shops filed around the country, including New Jersey, Minnesota, Chicago and Philadelphia. Kansas City also settled a suit last year against a gun dealer accused of ignoring evidence that guns were being sold illegally.

Washington, D.C., has struggled with gun violence in recent years. The nation’s capital saw its highest number of homicides in more than three decades last year, and more than 90% of those were carried out with firearms, the suit states.

Schwalb said that the supply of weapons is fueled partly by straw purchasing. About 95% of guns recovered in Washington, D.C., which has strict gun laws, originally come from nearby Maryland or Virginia, he said. While some of those are stolen weapons, more come from illegal straw sales, according to data from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

The three gun shops sued Tuesday are accused of selling a total of nearly three dozen similar weapons to Demetrius Minor over a seven-month period in 2021. Nearly all were trafficked to others, including people who aren’t legally allowed to buy firearms, the suit alleges. One gun, for example, was found in a D.C. hotel room along with an illegal large-capacity magazine and another was found at the home of a stabbing suspect, the suit says.

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Minor pleaded guilty to one count of dealing in firearms without a license last year in a plea deal with prosecutors and was sentenced to 18 months in prison. An attorney who represented Minor could not immediately be reached for comment.

The suit was filed against Engage Armament LLC, United Gun Shop and Atlantic Guns, Inc., all located in nearby Montgomery County, Maryland. It seeks unspecified damages and court action to halt any future straw purchases. The stores did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment.





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Washington, D.C

Weekend weather in the DC Area: A little bit of everything

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Weekend weather in the DC Area: A little bit of everything


If you’ve got plans around D.C., Maryland, or Northern Virginia this weekend, you’ll want to stay flexible.

The forecast brings a mix of warm temperatures, sunshine, and a few rounds of showers and storms—especially Saturday and late Sunday.

Here’s a simple, hour-by-hour style breakdown so you can plan ahead.

Saturday: Warm Front, Clouds, and Spotty Storms

Morning (6 AM – 12 PM)

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Mostly cloudy to start

A few early showers possible, especially toward the MD/PA border

Temperatures climbing through the 60s into the low 70s

What’s happening: A warm front is lifting north, bringing in milder air.

Afternoon (12 PM – 5 PM)

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Highs reach the mid-70s

Clouds may break at times

Scattered showers and thunderstorms develop

Saturday PM Forecast
Saturday highs

Storm window: 2 PM – 7 PM

About a 50% chance of rain

Severe risk is low, but not zero

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Possible:

Brief heavy downpours

Gusty winds

Maybe even small hail in isolated spots

Good news: Not everyone sees rain—but keep an eye on the sky.

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Evening & Night (After 7 PM)

Storm chances linger early, then fade

Skies turn partly cloudy overnight

Lows drop to the mid-50s

Winds become light

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Most of the night should be quiet and comfortable.

Sunday: The Pick of the Weekend

Morning

Dry and pleasant

A mix of sun and clouds early

Afternoon

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Sunny and warmer

Highs in the low 80s

Light southwest breeze

This is your best outdoor day—great for parks, brunch, or yard work.

Sunday PM Forecast
Sunday highs

Sunday Night (After Midnight)

Clouds increase

Showers likely after midnight (70% chance)

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Lows in the mid-50s

Winds shift from the north

Rain becomes more steady and widespread overnight

Looking Ahead (Late Sunday into Monday)

A cold front approaches from the northwest

Best chance for rain: Sunday night → Monday morning

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Rainfall totals:

Generally 0.10″ to 0.25″

Locally higher in spots

Storms are possible, but:

Limited instability

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Severe weather risk remains low

Weekend Planning Tips

Saturday:

Keep plans flexible—have a backup indoor option in the afternoon

Sunday:

Get outside early—it’s the best weather window

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Sunday night:

Expect rain if you’re out late or traveling

The Big Picture

This weekend is part of a warming trend, with temperatures climbing from the 70s into the 80s. But with that warmth comes multiple chances for showers and storms, especially as weather fronts move through the region.

This weekend compared too next

This weekend compared too next



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Mom finds out daughter with autism was sexually abused at DC school week after it happened

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Mom finds out daughter with autism was sexually abused at DC school week after it happened


CONTENT WARNING: This story contains content that may be uncomfortable to some readers. Discretion is advised.

WASHINGTON (7News) — A mother said she learned her 13-year-old daughter was sexually abused in a D.C. school when a detective contacted her a week after it happened. She said the school never notified her.

7News sat down with the mother on Friday, while her daughter was being evaluated and interviewed by detectives. We’re not sharing the mom’s identity to protect her daughter.

ALSO READ | Virginia health officials monitor cruise ship passengers for deadly hantavirus symptoms

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The mom said she got a call Sunday night, “regarding my daughter and a sexual assault that happened at school involving my daughter last Monday.”

However, it didn’t come from the place or people she said she counted on.

“I never got a phone call from the school, an email, a text, nothing to say,” said the mom. Nothing happened until a week later.

That’s when a detective called and told her what happened.

“She was forced to give oral sex to a student in school,” said the mom.

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Her 13-year-old daughter is disabled, autistic, and has challenges communicating.

The mom said she was sending her daughter to school without knowing what happened.

“I noticed a little behavior, emotional changes,” said the mom. “When I got that call now, it makes sense to, you know, what you because of what she had experienced at school and to come home and she didn’t say anything or no one had called me and just like it breaks my heart.”

7News obtained a copy of the police report, which confirms the youth investigative branch is investigating what happened to her daughter as sexual abuse. It shows that a Kelly Miller Middle School social worker reported it to the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) last week.

“I just hope that I can be able to get her back on the right track. From all the trauma, on top of trauma,” said the mom. “To be able to grow and not have to hold that in the back of her head that she experienced in school, which should have been her safe place.”

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7News started reaching out to DCPS just after 12:30 p.m. to ask if the students suspected of the abuse have been removed from the school, and why parents wouldn’t have been notified about the incident. They did not get back to us until after our first report aired. They did not answer either question. They provided the following statement.

A district spokesperson provided this statement:

At DC Public Schools (DCPS), student safety and wellbeing are paramount, and the district treats any allegation of sexual misconduct with the utmost seriousness. DCPS will continue to cooperate with law enforcement as this matter is investigated.

In accordance with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and our obligation to maintain student confidentiality, we are unable to provide comment on individual student cases.

If you or someone you know is a victim of sexual assault or abuse, the National Sexual Assault Hotline can be accessed by calling 1-800-656-4673.

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Canvas cyberattack leaves many DC-area school systems without service

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Canvas cyberattack leaves many DC-area school systems without service


A cyberattack on the Canvas learning management system left thousands of schools and universities offline Thursday, disrupting access to grades, assignments, course materials and lecture videos as students prepared for finals.

The hacking group ShinyHunters claimed responsibility for the breach, according to the Associated Press. Instructure, the company behind Canvas, did not immediately respond to questions about whether the system was taken down as a precaution or knocked offline, the AP reported.

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READ MORE: Canvas outage impacts thousands of schools, universities: Hacker group reportedly takes credit

The hacking group posted online that nearly 9,000 schools worldwide were affected, with billions of private messages and other records accessed. Many school systems and universities in the Washington, D.C. region rely on Canvas as their primary learning management system.

In Montgomery County, school officials said access to the platform will remain unavailable “out of an abundance of caution” while they work to understand the impact of the incident and any potential vulnerabilities. Families were urged not to log in until MCPS and the myMCPS Classroom vendor resolve the issue.

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The University of Maryland said it does not yet know when Canvas will return to service.

Canvas Cyberattack DC-Area School Systems Affected

Montgomery County Public Schools

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Canvas (myMCPS Classroom) owned by Instructure Inc., is used by the school district as its learning management system. Due to a reported global cybersecurity concern involving Canvas, and impacting numerous school systems, universities, corporations in Maryland, other states, and worldwide, thus access to myMCPS Classroom has been disabled.

Out of an abundance of caution, access to the system will remain unavailable while we work to better understand the full impact of the incident and any potential vulnerabilities involving information connected to the platform. Please do not attempt to log in to the platform until MCPS and the myMCPS Classroom (Canvas) vendor have resolved this problem.

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At this time, appropriate MCPS technology and security staff are continuing to assess the situation and coordinate with the vendor. We understand this disruption is frustrating and appreciate your patience as this work continues.

myMCPS Classroom provides access to student information such as grades, assignments, attendance, and course materials, and is an important tool for students and families to monitor academic progress. Additional information on how students can access resources and functions in myMCPS Classroom will be provided as soon as possible.

Updates will be shared as soon as additional information becomes available.

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University of Maryland

Canvas may appear to be up right now, but please to not use it. DIT Security is not confident the system is safe to use right now. Please check back here before using Canvas.

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For our faculty who use Canvas, we have created this guidance, and we will continue adding resources tomorrow. Please stay in touch with your students as we adapt to this evolving situation.

Prince George’s County Schools

There has been a cybersecurity incident involving Canvas, our Learning Management System.

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Instructure, the parent company of Canvas, notified us of a global cybersecurity incident affecting 275 million users across numerous educational institutions. We have been informed that PGCPS was one of the many impacted organizations. While personal information including names, emails and Student IDs was impacted, NO sensitive  information, such as dates of birth, passwords, financial information, was involved. PGCPS does not store that type of sensitive information or parent information in Canvas.

We are using this as an opportunity to reinforce the importance of exercising caution when communicating by email and remaining vigilant regarding suspicious messages, spam, phishing attempts, or other potentially fraudulent communications. 

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We will continue to monitor the situation and remain in close communication with Instructure.

Anne Arundel County Public Schools

Due to the ongoing issues with the Canvas Learning Management System (LMS), AACPS will operate schools on Friday, May 8, 2026, without the use of the LMS. The Virtual Academy will also remain open with altered instructional delivery that will also not use the LMS. Further instructions will be communicated from the school principal. The latest information regarding the breach and the status of school district operations can be found at www.aacps.org/canvasbreach.

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Prince William County Public Schools

We are aware of the error appearing when accessing Canvas and are actively working with the vendor to resolve it. The issue is not just impacting PWCS, and is widespread and national in scope. We will provide updates when the vendor has resolved the issue.

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The Source: Information in this article comes from the Associated Press and previous FOX 5 reporting. 

NewsConsumerMarylandWashington, D.C.Virginia



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