A 68-year-old man in Maryland is accused of causing a sprawling carjacking and shooting spree that only stopped once the final car he entered was manual and he realized he could not operate the clutch.
Larry James Simpson has been indicted on 71 charges, including multiple counts of attempted murder, first-degree assault, and armed carjacking, according to court records reviewed by Law&Crime. The indictment was handed down on Thursday.
On May 15, Simpson randomly targeted 17 different victims in Greenbelt, College Park, and Riverdale in Prince George”s County, Maryland, authorities claim.
He allegedly began his rampage around 2:30 p.m. when he shot at a 64-year-old man on Pierce Avenue in College Park. The defendant then crashed a stolen car before getting out of the vehicle and firing his weapon again, Washington, D.C., Fox affiliate WTTG reported.
Simpson reportedly carried an assault-style rifle as he shot at a woman before stealing her car, law enforcement said. An off-duty police officer is said to have seen the carjacking and followed the suspect — leading to a chase and Simpson allegedly firing at the officer.
When the defendant got to Riverdale, he flipped the stolen car he was driving while speeding and then jumped out of the vehicle while firing his weapon, authorities say. It was at this point that he ran out of ammunition.
When Simpson reached a third car and stole it, he realized it was manual and that he did not know how to use the clutch, prosecutors said, according to regional NBC affiliate WRC. At least two people were hurt in the rampage, one from a bullet and another from shattered glass.
Authorities have not offered a suspected motive for the crime spree. They have, however, expressed frustration that the defendant was free to walk the streets — after he was reportedly convicted of first-degree murder in 1987 and was released into a special program in 2022.
Simpson is due to appear in court on July 10.
