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Police make arrest in connection to fatal shooting of Lyft driver

Abdul Rauf Khan owned a restaurant in Alexandria for decades. He was driving Lyft to help save for his daughter's college.

PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY, Md. — The Prince George's County Police Department has arrested a 17-year-old from D.C. in connection to the death of a Lyft driver who was killed in Temple Hills on Saturday.

Abdul Rauf Khan, 71, Springfield, Va. died Saturday after he was shot multiple times when police say he was driving for Lyft. Officers were dispatched to the 3700 block of Dunlap Street around 5:30 p.m. for a welfare check where they found Khan suffering from gunshot wounds in the roadway. Police say Khan eventually died from his wounds in the hospital.  

Police say the 17-year-old faces first-degree murder charges, as well as carjacking charges, and will be tried in court as an adult. 

PGPD Chief Malik Aziz said at a news conference Wednesday that the teen is one of three people arrested in connection to Khan's death; a second 17-year-old and a 19-year-old were also arrested. 

Police said they arrested all three during a traffic stop at the intersection of Garrett A. Morgan Boulevard and Central Avenue in Landover on Tuesday, where they recovered Khan's stolen vehicle.

According to sources close to the investigation, the two 17-year-olds had been previously arrested and charged for violent crimes in D.C. and Prince George’s County within the past few months, but they were released. 

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According to Aziz, the 17-year-old charged with murder confessed to shooting Khan during a carjacking. Investigators found that Khan picked up the teen as a rideshare passenger in D.C. Police do not know if the teen was alone with Khan at the time of the shooting, or if others were in the car. 

The 17-year-old is currently in police custody in the Department of Corrections on a no-bond status.

The other 17-year-old is charged in connection to a carjacking on Marlboro Pike that occurred hours after the murder, a PGPD statement said. 

"Khan’s stolen vehicle was used in that carjacking," the PGPD statement said.  

The third person arrested during Tuesday's traffic stop was 19-year-old Daquan Childs of D.C. Childs faces charges for unauthorized use of a vehicle. 

Aziz noted that a month ago, he and Prince George's County Executive Angela Alsobrooks announced a partnership with D.C. police to address the rise in youth carjackings. The chief said detectives will look closely at other crimes the juveniles connected to Khan's death possibly committed. 

"The vast majority of our young people are doing right," Aziz said, adding a smaller group is committing violent crimes. 

The chief argued that those committing crimes need to be held accountable for their actions.

WUSA9 spoke to Khan's widow, Saba Rauf, on Monday who is haunted by the idea of Khan lying alone in the street at the time he was killed.

"No one is there," Rauf said of her husband's final moments. "Did he call my name? Did he call his daughter? Did he call for help or something?"

Agha Raza Ali, a nephew of Khan, told WUSA9 that his uncle "was a pillar of his community."

Khan has previously spent decades as the owner of a Pakistani restaurant in Alexandria. In 2017, he was dubbed a hero for saving a police officer who was attacked by a knife-wielding man.

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He was working as a Lyft driver to support his widow, Rauf, who worked as a teacher in Fairfax and to save to send his 16-year-old daughter to college.

"They think it's just somebody that they can kill and he was nobody," Ali said. "He was somebody."

Aziz said in a statement that Khan's death has broken the hearts of many residents in the community. 

"I hope the arrest of the person responsible brings a level of comfort to his loved ones,” the chief said.

A LaunchGood fundraiser has been started to help support Abdul Rauf's family. 

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