A 23-year-old man killed in a stabbing on Barracks Row early Saturday morning has been identified as Philip Bushong of Camp Lejeune, NC, MPD said Saturday evening.
A 20-year-old DC man, Michael Joseph Poth, has been arrested on suspicion of second-degree murder while armed in connection with the case, according to MPD’s press release.
WJLA reports that both Bushong and Poth are Marines.
Captain Jack Norton, spokesman for the Marine Barracks, says that between 2:30 and 2:45 a.m. guard Marines responded to an incident between two individuals on H Street SE outside the Marine Barracks.
They subdued one of them and he was turned over to D.C. police.An MPD source says the suspect Marine uttered a homophobic slur before stabbing the victim.
CNN reported that Bushong “was based at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina, and that the alleged attacker is stationed at the Marine Barracks.”
The Washington Post reports that Bushong was stabbed once in the chest with a pocketknife.
Officers found a pocketknife on Poth when they arrested him, police said. Investigators think the men got into a fight on the street, and did not know each other before the incident.
“This is obviously a tragedy and we’re working in concert with local authorities and cooperating with them as necessary,” said Marine Capt. John D. Norton, public affairs officer at Marine Barracks Washington.
Read MPD’s press release below.
April 21, 2012
Homicide and Arrest: 700 block of 8th Street, SE
(Washington, DC)-Detectives from the Metropolitan Police Department’s Homicide Branch are investigating the fatal stabbing which occurred in the 700 block of 8th Street, Southeast.
On Saturday, April 21, 2012 at approximately 2:41 am, units from the First District responded to the 700 block of 8th Street, Southeast, to investigate a stabbing. Upon their arrival, they located the victim, suffering from an apparent stab wound. Information uncovered during the course of the preliminary investigation indicates that there was a verbal exchange, and during the exchange a homophobic slur was heard from the suspect prior to the stabbing. DC Fire and Emergency Medical Services personnel transported the victim to a local hospital where he succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced dead.
The decedent has been identified as 23 year-old Philip Bushong of Camp Lejeune, NC.
On Saturday, April 21, 2012, 20 year-old Michael Joseph Poth of Southeast, Washington, DC was arrested. He has been charged with Murder Two while Armed in the fatal Stabbing of Philip Bushong.
