A Washington man died Monday afternoon, the victim of a shooting outside Clifton Meadow apartments.

The shooting occurred at 2:15 p.m. outside the apartment complex on West 10^th Street; the victim, identified as Cortez Lavon Ebron, 26, of Washington. The suspect fled by vehicle from the scene and within minutes, police, assisted by deputies from the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office, were scouring the area for missing shooter, according to Washington Police Department spokesman Lt. William Chrismon.

“Mr. Ebron was transported to the hospital by EMS in an attempt to save his life and he was pronounced deceased at the hospital,” Chrismon said.

The weapon used in the crime was not recovered, said Washington Police and Fire Services Director Stacy Drakeford.

A block away from the crime scene, sheriff’s office deputies put John Cotten Tayloe Elementary School on lockdown at the request of police, minimizing the movement of staff and students, because of the school’s close proximity to the shooting.

“We knew (police) were going to send a lot of resources to the (crime) scene, so we sent resources to the school until they could figure out what they had,” said sheriff’s office Chief Deputy Charlie Rose, adding that putting the school on lockdown was a standard safety measure. “Anything that goes on at a school in the area of egress from a crime like occurred yesterday, (a lockdown is) extra-precautionary. … But the likelihood of anything happening at the school because of that event was very, very low.”

Chrismon said police are seeking the community’s help in finding the person(s) responsible for Ebron’s death.

“We’re following up on some leads, doing interviews, but once again if anybody’s got anything — that one little tidbit may be the piece we need,” Chrismon said. “Hopefully, with the community’s help and some hard work by our investigators,

we can come to determine exactly what took place.”

Police are still seeking a motive. While Ebron had some past criminal history and served 10 months in prison on 2009 larceny charges, more recent history shows driving infractions only.

“He has some record, some prior charges, but, really, he hasn’t been on our radar in a while,” Chrismon said.

Homicide is a rarity in Washington: the most recent one, a domestic incident, took place in July, when 57-year-old Blondell Green was shot by Jaquay Omestic Bernard Hill, 26, who then committed suicide.

“We have a very safe community and we were not anticipating this to happen. We hate it when something like this happens,” Chrismon said. “If anybody’s got any information please give us a call.”

Washington Police as well as Beaufort County Crime Stoppers are offering rewards for information that leads to arrest(s) in this case. Anyone with information is asked to contact Washington Police Department 252-946-1444 or Beaufort County Crime Stoppers by phone, text or through their website. 252-974-6400; text a tip anonymously by dialing 274637 on a cellphone and in the body of the message, type BCSO131 and the tip; or submit a tip through the Crime Stoppers website, www.beaufortcountycrimestoppers.com, by following the “Tip Line” link and filling out an online form. Calls, texts, and emails are anonymous. Tipsters do not have to give their name to receive a reward.