Washington DC shooter wounds four, had ‘sniper-type setup’

At least four people, including two men and a young woman, were wounded during a shooting in Washington near the University of the District of Columbia on Friday, authorities have confirmed.

One of the shooting victims was a retired member of the police department, Robert J. Contee III, Chief of the Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia confirmed.

“This was very much a sniper-type setup with a tripod, and this person obviously his intent was to kill and hurt members of our community,” Contee said of the incident.

The shooter fired more than 20 rounds, Contee confirmed, and said it was “very possible” he fired more than one weapon during the incident. Further information regarding a possible motive was not released.

“I can also tell you that inside of the suspect’s apartment, we’ve recovered over six firearms, including several long guns, multiple rounds of ammunition and handguns as well,” Contee added.

A shooting suspect was found deceased in Washington, DC on Friday following the incident. “The suspect that we believe is responsible for this is now deceased. We believe that the suspect took his own life as MPD members were entering or breaching the apartment with a suspect was located,” Contee said.

“I am unable to confirm the identity of the suspect at this time, pending official notification to the family,” Contee added. “But I will say that we put out a person of interest earlier and we are no longer looking for that person of interest.”

The Metropolitan Police Department said Raymond Spencer, 23, is a person of interest in the shooting, which took place in the area of Connecticut Avenue and Van Ness Street in Northwest DC.

In a press briefing Friday, Metropolitan Police Department Assistant Chief Stuart Emerman said they identified Spencer as a person of interest based on social media information, and are asking him to come forward for questioning. Authorities haven’t located Spencer yet.