The former Trump administration official who was shot in an apparent attempted carjacking in Washington, D.C., last week died Saturday, his family revealed.
“It is with profound sadness that I wish to inform the community of the passing of my husband, Mike Gill,” his wife, Kristina, told Fox 5. “His sudden departure has left a void in our lives that can never be filled. In this time of grief, we are grateful for the outpouring of love and support from family, friends, and the community, and extend our heartfelt gratitude to everyone who has reached out to offer condolences and assistance.”
Gill served as the chief operating officer and chief of staff to the chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission under former president Donald Trump. While he was waiting to pick his wife up from work on Monday, a suspect entered his car and shot him. Gill’s wife found him sprawled on the ground in a pool of blood, the Washington Post reported.
Gill was one victim of a spree of carjackings in D.C. and Maryland that ended when police shot and killed the suspect. The suspect also allegedly killed one more victim after shooting Gill, who is survived by his wife and three children.
Gill’s death comes amid a broader crime wave in Washington. Although homicides and motor vehicle thefts have been lower in early 2024 than they were at the same point last year, they surged in 2023 compared with 2022. While other large cities across the country saw killings fall last year, they rose 35 percent in D.C. Meanwhile, carjackings in the district rose 82 percent.
Just over a week ago, the Department of Justice announced a new initiative led by the FBI to fight the rise in crime in D.C., which the district’s federal prosecutor, Matthew Graves, has attributed to lenient criminal justice laws that allow judges to give easier sentences to younger perpetrators. Last week, D.C. attorney general Brian Schwalb (D.) told residents at a panel on youth carjackings that the city needs to be “more focused on prevention” and that the community “cannot prosecute and arrest our way out of” the crime wave.
