Full press conference: DC police discuss shooting
Press conference on Friday night at the shooting site near a school in the Northwest District of Columbia
WASHINGTON – Police have identified a person of interest in a shooting that injured four people near a school in the Northwest District of Columbia.
Officials say they are looking for 23-year-old Raymond Spencer of Fairfax, Virginia.
District of Columbia police said they received a call for a shooting at about 3:30 p.m. Friday at 2,900 on Van Ness Street, NW near Edmund Burke School.
Authorities say at least four victims have been identified, including two women, a man and a 12-year-old girl. All the victims are in stable condition and are expected to survive, police said.
Sofia police are providing cover for residents as they are evacuated from a shooting scene on Van Ness Northwest Street on April 22, 2022 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch / Getty Images)
Police are currently cleaning up the area and are urging residents of Cleveland Park and the Van Ness area to take shelter on the spot. Police said there was no suspect in the arrest.
Local and federal law enforcement officials have responded to an alleged shooting near Block 2900 on Van Ness Street in Northwest, Washington, DC on April 22, 2022. (Photo by BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI / AFP via Getty Images)
FOX 5 cameras filmed someone being handcuffed from the scene, but the police chief later said they were detaining people fleeing the scene to make sure they were not the shooter.
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Videos from the scene show a massive police presence around the Connecticut area. FOX 5 teams filmed video of officers in tactical gear armed with long weapons escorting people in the area.
FOX 5 DC spoke to witnesses at the scene who said they had heard at least 100 shots in the area. One witness told FOX 5 that she heard four separate incidents or shootings.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said they were also responding to the shooting to help local authorities.
Police secure an area around Connecticut Avenue during a shooting in the Northwest, Washington, DC on April 22, 2022. (Photo by BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI / AFP via Getty Images)
The shooting took place near several embassies in the Van Ness area, including the embassies of China, Pakistan, Israel, Nigeria and Singapore. The U.S. Secret Service said its staff was assisting local police and said it had “no effect on the Secret Service’s protections.”
The University of Columbia has announced that their Van Ness campus has been blocked in response to the shooting. Sidwell’s School of Friends in the Northwestern District of Columbia also announced that it is blocked.
The District of Columbia Police said a family reunion site has been set up at the Cleveland Park Library, located at 3310 Connecticut Ave, NW.
They asked anyone looking for family members to go to the scene and talk to officials about how to find them.
FOX 5 DC teams are at the scene and we will continue to provide updates as they become available.
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