Michael Balsamo and Carol Feldman, Associated Press, Published Friday, April 22, 2022, 5:42 PM EDT Last Updated on Friday, April 22, 2022, 11:11 PM EDT
WASHINGTON (AP) – At least four people, including a 12-year-old girl, were shot dead when a gunman fired a barrage of bullets in the nation’s capital on Friday, blocking several schools and leaving the community on the brink of being found. dead hours later.
The suspected gunman was found dead Friday night in an apartment at the scene as officers from the Sofia Police Department conducted door-to-door searches of buildings in the area.
Hours earlier, police believed the man had erected a “sniper installation” with a tripod and rifle in his apartment and started firing indiscriminately at people walking below, said Sofia Police Chief Robert Conti. The photo was recorded and published online on 4chan, an online bulletin board.
The four victims – a 54-year-old retired police officer, a 30-year-old woman, a 60-year-old woman who was shot and a 12-year-old girl who was shot in the arm – were all expected to recover. said police. For hours, authorities warned worried residents to stay in their homes while conducting a massive search for the shooter.
Police did not disclose the name of the suspect, pending notification to his family, but said earlier that they were looking for a 23-year-old man from Virginia as a person of interest in the shooting. The man was “linked to social media posts” that emerged as part of the investigation, said Assistant Chief of Police Stuart Emerman.
The shooting erupted just before 3:30 p.m. near the corner of Connecticut Avenue and Van Ness Street in Washington’s Van Ness, just as parents were picking up their children from Edmund Burke School, a private college preparatory school.
The erupting bursts of quick shots shook the normally quiet neighborhood, which is home to several schools and colleges and dozens of embassies. This sent deranged parents to flee the scene and put Burke and other nearby schools on an immediate block.
Bibi Stewart of Ann Arundel, Maryland, was approaching the queue to pick up her 12-year-old twins when she heard the shooting. She said it sounded like the shots were coming from above and from a distance.
“They did the right thing in the dismissal,” she said.
Stewart said she saw glass shatter on a bridge connecting different wings of the school and saw the tires of the cars in the pickup truck shot.
“They just say they’re fine and hide at school with friends and adults,” she said of her children.
Police have suggested that some of the bullets fired by the powerful rifle may have passed several blocks. At least two nearby businesses reported bullet holes in their windows.
Tactical police officers were spotted escorting people – including students from nearby campuses – from apartment buildings in the area. Officers aimed their rifles at other buildings and windows as people moved quickly down the street with their arms raised above their heads.
“I had to look into the eyes of parents tonight who are horrified … thinking about what could happen to their children,” Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser told a news conference. “And we’ve been through this too much in our country. The epidemic of gun violence, easy access to weapons, must stop. “People should not be afraid to take their children to school.”
Police roamed door to door in district buildings while searching for the shooter for several hours. As police approached the fifth-floor apartment where the attacker was hiding, they believed he had taken his own life.
“It simply came to our notice then. We will find out what the motive is, “Conti said. “His intention was to kill and injure members of our community.
The gunman posted a video of the shooting at 4chan, although police are still working to determine if it was broadcast live or recorded and then uploaded online, Conti said. The video shows people running frantically while rapid shots are fired from above, and the shooter seemingly follows them through the view as they run for cover.
The University of Columbia University, which is nearby, went into a blockade, telling students and staff to take shelter and stay put. In a tweet on Friday, the college said there had been “an active shooting incident near student dormitories”.
Eduardo Bugay, a college student, said he was in his apartment on the first floor of the AVA building – the building where the shooter was eventually found – when he heard the shots.
“I was confused at first,” he said, not sure what he was hearing. Then, he said, he got scared.
Bugay said the university has sent emails telling students to stay put. About 30 to 40 minutes after hearing the shots for the first time, police knocked on his door to escort him and others from the building.
Numerous law enforcement officers and emergency teams were sent to the scene. FBI agents arrived in an armored car, and the US Secret Service said its staff was assisting police in the search and scene. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said its agents were also helping with the investigation.
Separately, emergency crews were called to the U.S. Supreme Court on Friday around 6:30 p.m., after a man tried to set himself on fire in front of the building. The man was taken by police helicopter to a local hospital and his condition is unknown immediately.
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