Family Remembers Murdered Honor Student

SILVER SPRING, Md. (WUSA) - - A Buddhist shrine sits on a table inside a Silver Spring home. It is where Tai Lam's family waited for his safe return. The 14-year-old freshman, who loved the color purple and made a lot of friends, was shot to death on a bus headed toward his Silver Spring apartment.

"He's a great kid. He's the perfect brother you can ask for, always listened. He didn't get into trouble," said Quy Lam, the victim's sister.

A street memorial now grows near the stop where a gunman fired into a Ride On bus, killing the honor student and wounding two other teens. Lam's brother, Cao, witnessed the shooting when the bus stopped at Piney Branch Road and Arliss Street around 11 Saturday night.

"They was looking for some trouble because they were trying to provoke us," said the victim's brother.

Cao Lam, his brother and a group of friends were returning from an outing to downtown Silver Spring. He says when the troublemakers got off at the stop, one male held the door open and the shooter fired into the bus.

One witness told 9 NEWS NOW that there was a verbal exchange with a passenger who refused to let a girl sit down. He also said neither Lam nor the other teens shot were involved in that conversation. The 14-year-old and 15-year-old wounded are expected to survive.

"Tai would be the last person trying to fight somebody. He knew better. He came from a good background and everything," said Charles Young, a friend. "Tai was a young man who everybody loved. Everybody had respect for him."

"He was genuinely nice. Always smiling," said Daniel Nuessle, a friend.

Lam was a popular student at Montgomery Blair High School. He was involved in wrestling and the fashion club. The teen's family hopes the public can help police find the killer and give them justice.

"He was just taken away from us, and it is not fair that people are gone and the bad ones are still out there," said the victim's sister.