Gunman found dead after 4 shot in capital attacks

A man who police said had set up a tripod in an apartment along one of Washington’s busiest corridors and randomly fired more than 20 rounds, injuring four people, apparently killed himself Friday night as police prepared to enter the apartment, authorities said.

News of the man’s death came about six hours after the afternoon shootings, which sent people scurrying for safety and prompted police to tell residents and students in the Cleveland Park and Van Ness areas to shelter in place as they searched for an assailant.

The terror and confusion ended late Friday when police Chief Robert Contee announced that the man had been found dead in a fifthfloor apartment, where there was a tripod that police described as a “sniper-type setup,” at least six guns and many rounds of ammunition.

Three adults and a 12-yearold girl were injured in the shooting. Two of the adults were in stable condition at a hospital; the girl was in stable condition with minor wounds; and a woman who was grazed by a bullet was treated at the scene.

During an earlier news conference, police said they were searching for a “person of interest” — Raymond Spencer, 23, of Fairfax, Va. — whom they wanted to question. Spencer’s name emerged “based upon the things we have seen on social media,” said Stuart Emerman, assistant chief of the Metropolitan Police Department.

Later in the night, Contee said he would not release the name of the deceased man until the family was notified. But he said that police were no longer looking for the person of interest.

Contee said the investigation is ongoing. “We will get to the bottom of this,” he said. “We will find out what the motive is. Right now, we do not have that answer. But the answer that we do have is that our communities are now safe.”

Possible video of the attack circulated online and depicted bursts of rapid gunfire from an elevated location. Contee said the video “looks very much to be authentic but we want to just make sure of that.” He added that the video helped police in “making sure that we were focused in on the right place.”

Contee said the fact that the gunfire appeared to have been directed randomly toward people on the street speaks to “the depravity of some of the individuals we have to face in our communities.”

Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images Police provide cover Friday as residents are told to run with their hands up while being evacuated from their homes after a gunman opened fire in the Van Ness area of Washington.