A father in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, died in the hospital of a traumatic brain injury after a group of people assaulted him in lieu of his 14-year-old son.
The group of suspects came to Christopher Wright’s address at around 5 p.m. Friday, looking for the unnamed 14-year-old in what they said was a continuation of an earlier fight at Brooklyn Park Middle School in Brooklyn Park.
Anne Arundel County Public Schools confirmed the earlier fight, and is working with Anne Arundel County Police in the investigation.
Wright’s fiance Tracy Karopchinsky described the group as being three teens and two adults, while Anne Arundel County Police said the suspects were three to four males in their 20s and 30s.
The suspects originally sought the 14-year-old, but when Wright said that he would not be coming out to fight, the group turned their attention to him.
The suspects “threatened at one point to come in and get him, and then they said, ‘If he’s not going to fight, then you’re going to fight,’” Ms. Karopchinsky told WBAL-TV.
Wright suffered a seizure amid a flurry of kicks and punches and died in the hospital on Saturday night. Security footage from Wright’s home, as well as from a neighbor, captured the incident.
All three of the family’s children were home at the time of the incident.
“I tried to go onto the camera to look, and the first video that comes up is my 12-year-old son screaming, ‘Daddy, daddy, daddy,’ and running out of the house into the street to go help his dad. And, I couldn’t watch anymore after that. I just couldn’t,” Ms. Karopchinsky explained to WBAL-TV.
A candlelight vigil, the time and location of which have not yet been set, has been planned in Wright’s memory. Anne Arundel County Police urge anyone with information on the suspects to call 410-222-4731.
• Brad Matthews can be reached at bmatthews@washingtontimes.com.
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