Woman shoots husband at DC hotel, says he molested kids at her day care, police say

WASHINGTON — A Maryland woman accused of shooting and injuring her husband at a Washington, D.C., hotel claims she opened fire at the man because he had been molesting children at her day care, police said.

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According to WTTG and WTOP, D.C. police arrested Shanteari Weems, 50, on assault with intent to kill and weapons charges in connection with the incident, which occurred last week at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel.

Court documents said authorities responded to the hotel shortly after 7:30 p.m. Thursday after receiving reports that a man on the eighth floor had been shot, according to WTTG. Police said they arrived to find Weems barricaded inside room 853 with the wounded man, whom she identified as her husband, WTOP reported.

Police negotiated through the door for about 30 minutes with Weems, who called her husband “a child molester” and threatened to kill him and herself, according to WTOP. Authorities then forced their way inside and detained Weems, who handed over a gun from her purse, the news station reported. Police said they also found a second gun in the room, WTTG reported.

Crews rushed the husband to a nearby hospital, authorities said. Police said his injuries, which included gunshot wounds to the head and leg, were not believed to be life-threatening, according to WTOP.

Weems, of Randallstown, Maryland, told police that she traveled to D.C. on Wednesday to meet her husband, WTTG reported. She said that while she was there, she received phone calls alleging that her husband had molested children at the day care she operates, Lil Kidz Kastle in Owings Mills, WTOP reported. Baltimore authorities also had been notified of the allegations, she said, according to court documents.

Weems said she confronted her husband Thursday, and an argument ensued, the documents said. She told police that when the man started to “go toward” her, she shot him with a handgun, according to WTOP.

Weems told officers that she had only wanted to wound her husband but had thoughts of killing herself, WTTG reported. In a letter that police recovered from the hotel room, Weems allegedly made a similar statement, saying she wanted to shoot but not kill her husband and paralyze him, according to the news outlet.

In a statement obtained by WTTG, Baltimore County police said they were monitoring the developments in D.C. and supporting the families affected. The day care remains closed during the ongoing investigation, police added.

Weems is scheduled to appear in court Monday, the news outlets reported.

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