DC police enter building after shooting
In a video obtained by Fox News, law enforcement enter a Washington, DC building after reports of an active shooter.
A suspect linked to a shooting Friday that injured four people, including a child, in Washington D.C., and sent people running for their lives was found dead in an apartment building as authorities were breaching a unit, authorities said.
Earlier the Metropolitan Police Department released photos of the man it says is a person of interest in connection to the shooting: 23-year-old Raymond Spencer of Fairfax, Virginia. Contee would not confirm if Spencer was the suspect who was found dead but said authorities were no longer looking for him.
Authorities believe the suspect took his own life. In his apartment, authorities found several firearms, including several long guns and handguns, and "multiple" rounds of ammunition, the chief said. It appears the weapons were obtained legally, he said.
The suspect also used a tripod during the shooting, he said.
"This was very much a sniper-type setup with a tripod," said Contee. "Obviously his intent was to kill and hurt members of our community."
The Metropolitan Police Department said it received reports around 3:20 p.m. of shots fired in the 4100 block of Connecticut Avenue NW. Responding officers found a 54-year-old man, a woman in her mid-30s and a 12-year-old girl with gunshot wounds as well as an adult female in her 60s who suffered a graze wound to the back.
They were randomly shot and were listed in stable condition were expected to survive, the MPD said.
"It just appears that this person was shooting randomly at anyone who was out there," Contee said.
Social media users reported hearing heavy gunfire in the area. Fox News Digital obtained video from a nearby resident who captured sounds of the gunfire.
VIDEO CREDIT: Twitter: @yubibimbap
Authorities believe the shooting took place in one location and were interviewing witnesses. Several people who ran from the chaos were briefing detained by police to determine whether they were suspects, authorities said.
Investigators have not determined a motive for the attack. Officials did not know what type of weapon was used. Law enforcement was conducting door-to-door sweeps in search of anyone connected to the shooting.
The MPD earlier issued a shelter in place order in response to what it described as an "active threat" and said road closures in the area should be expected.
Mayor Muriel Bowser said residents in the Cleveland Park and Van Ness neighborhoods should remain inside. The University of DC Van Ness campus tweeted it had gone on lockdown.
Bowser called the shooting "heartbreaking" in a statement Friday evening, condemning what she called the "epidemic of gun violence in our country."
"The easy access to firearms — it has got to stop," she said, adding that all of the chaos was caused "because a person who had no business having a gun got access to one and used it to terrorize a school community.
"People should not be scared taking their children to school. People should not be scared sitting in their cars when they run errands. People should not be scared standing outside their homes and talking to neighbors … We pray for the health and well-being of all of today’s victims. But the epidemic of gun violence in our country must be stopped. We cannot allow dangerous people – who become much more dangerous and deadly because they have easy access to guns – to terrorize our communities. We must believe that there is a better way than this, and we’ve got to work together, in DC and across the nation, to find it."
She also thanked the first responders to the scene and investigators for quickly identifying the suspect.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) said on Twitter that it is also responding to the shooting to assist local authorities. Uniformed Secret Service personnel are also helping the MPD, it said.
Anthony Guglielmi, the chief of communications for the U.S. Secret Service, said the shooting had "no impact to Secret Service protectees."
The shooting occurred near several embassies in the Van Ness area, including embassies for China, Pakistan, Israel, Nigeria and Singapore.
Police respond to an active shooter situation in Washington D.C., that inured at least four people Friday. (WTTG)
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Fox News' Brie Stimson contributed to this report
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