A man suspected of shooting four people in Washington, DC, on Friday was found dead in an apartment with many weapons and ammunitionreports WUSA-TV.
“It was really a sniper type setup with a tripod, and this person, obviously, his intent was to kill and injure members of our community,” the DC Metropolitan Police Department chief said. , Robert Contee, during a press conference Friday evening, according to the television station.
Investigators believe the suspect began shooting at random people.
A man, who is a retired police officer, and a woman were shot and hospitalized with serious injuries. A 12-year-old girl was also hospitalized with minor injuries, while another woman was grazed by a bullet and did not require hospitalization.
Filming began around 3:20 p.m. in northwest Washington near the Edmund Burke School, a college-preparatory school, and the campuses of the University of the District of Columbia, the University of Washington Law School. Howard University.
Schools were closed and a massive law enforcement response arrived at the scene.
Patricia Termini, the woman who was grazed by a bullettold WRC-TV she was waiting to pick up a student from Edmund Burke School when the shots rang out.
“I was waiting in the alley, and all of a sudden there were what I thought were explosions,” Termini told the TV station.
“And then the second burst came, and I lay down in my car, and I called the people whose child I was picking up, and I said, ‘There’s explosions or a bomb. I don’t know if it’s gunshots or what. And at that moment, a bullet came from behind me and it grazed my shoulder, and I stood up, and at that moment, I was like, “I have to get out of here” .
In a video posted on social mediagunshots in rapid succession can be heard in the area where the shooting occurred.
Officers focused their attention on an apartment building and eventually entered a fifth-floor unit where the suspected shooter was located.
🚨MPD is looking for the person of interest below in connection with the shooting in the 2900 block of Van Ness Street, NW. This individual is Raymond Spencer, 23, of Fairfax, Virginia. 🚨 pic.twitter.com/ziR0Vutw0p
— DC Police Department (@DCPoliceDept) April 22, 2022
Contee told reporters the suspect allegedly committed suicide as offices entered his apartment. Inside they found six firearms and several cartridges.
“Today evil has come to our community,” Contee said at the press conference, according to WUSA-TV. “People have been needlessly shot in our community following a senseless act of violence.”
We just spoke with Patricia Termini, one of the victims of the Van Ness shooting. She was grazed in the shoulder by a bullet. She says she was picking up a student from Edmund Burke School when she heard a burst of gunfire and took cover in her car. @nbcwashington pic.twitter.com/ThoGBzJhXA
— Aimee Cho (@AimeeCho4) April 23, 2022
It is unclear whether investigators have determined the motive for the shooting. Contee told reporters that preliminary information indicates the suspect has had no previous contact with police.
Authorities have not officially named the suspect, but they had identified a person of interest earlier in the day as Raymond Spencer of Fairfax, Virginia. Contee later said at the press conference that after the suspect took his own life, authorities don’t look for spencer anymoreaccording to the Washington Post.
Online activity indicates that someone using the name Raymond Spencer edited the Wikipedia entry for the Edmund Burke School to include details of the shooting.
Someone with the same name allegedly posted on social media, “Dear God, please forgive me,” four minutes after the shots were reported to police, according to the Post.
In subsequent social media posts, the user wrote, “They are currently in the wrong part of the building looking for XD” and “Waiting for the police to catch me,” according to the Post.
A graphic video has also been uploaded to the 4chan website which appears to show someone shooting at Edmund Burke School.
Samuel Nicolido, who lives in the neighborhood, said he heard about 20 gunshots.
“It was like five hits, then stopped for about a minute, then four more, five more, then again,” Nicolido told CNN. “I saw cops with shields everywhere and then they were saying, they were telling us to stay home, don’t leave. So yes, it was scary.
The scene was still blocked by a police tape on Saturday morning, according to WUSA-TV.
To report information about the shooting, call DC Police at 202-727-9099.
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[Featured image: Police respond near the scene of a shooting Friday, April 22, 2022, in northwest Washington. Police say at least three people were injured in a shooting and city officials are warning people in the area to stay inside because of an “active threat.” Dozens of law enforcement officers responded to the scene near Connecticut Avenue and Van Ness St. in the Van Ness neighborhood of Washington.(AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)]
