WASHINGTON — Four people were shot in northwest Washington, D.C., on Friday afternoon with the suspect or suspects still at large, according to the Metropolitan Police.
Hours later, Assistant Police Chief Stuart Emerman said “we are seeking a person of interest that we would like to speak with,” whom he identified as Raymond Spencer, 23, of Fairfax, Virginia.
“We’d like to speak to Mr. Spencer,” Emerman added, saying that investigators began focusing on him after finding his name on social media. He did not elaborate.
The police initially said three people had been shot in the busy residential neighborhood that includes two university campuses, two private schools, apartment houses, restaurants and a Metro station. Some of the schools went into lockdown and police advised residents to shelter in place.
A 54-year-old man, a 12-year-old girl and a woman in her 30s were in stable condition at area hospitals, district officials said. At a second news conference, Emerman said a fourth victim, a woman in her 60s who suffered a graze wound, had come forward.
“We are very focused on getting people help and stopping gun violence,” said Mayor Muriel Bowser, who appeared at both news conferences. “Unfortunately, I had to look in parents’ eyes tonight who were terrified. And they were terrified thinking of what might happen to their children. We have experienced this too much in our country, the epidemic of gun violence, the easy access to weapons, has got to stop.”
The shootings come as multiple U.S. cities grapple with heightened anxieties about rising crime and violence.
Earlier this month, residents and commuters in New York City were rocked by a chaotic rush-hour shooting on a subway train in Brooklyn. And in March, police arrested a suspect in a string of shootings of homeless men in Washington and New York.
Authorities responded to the “active threat” late Friday afternoon in a place close to Howard University’s law school, the University of the District of Columbia and the two private schools.
“At this time our units are currently in the area of Connecticut and Van Ness conducting a search for a suspect or suspects,” Emerman said. “At this point we do not have any suspects in custody.”
Metropolitan officers were assisted by the U.S. Park Police, the U.S. Secret Service Uniformed Division, the University of the District of Columbia Police, FBI and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, he said.
On Friday night, the authorities continued to urge people to avoid the area.
Bowser, who is running for reelection to a third term with a Democratic mayoral primary in June, has faced pressure from voters about violent crime, carjackings and homeless encampments in the District during the pandemic.
In January, several people were shot, one fatally, at a hotel up Connecticut Avenue from Friday’s shooting.
