“Evil came to our neighborhood in Van Ness,” stated Metropolitan Police Chief Robert Contee at a press conference after the shooting outside a middle/high school. It is believed the shooter took his own life. The identity of the suspect, Raymond Spencer from Fairfax, Virginia was released last night. The investigation is ongoing.
Three women and a 12-year-old child were shot outside Edmund Burke schools. Three of those victims were taken to nearby hospitals. Over six firearms and ammunition were retrieved from the suspect’s fifth-floor apartment. It is believed the weapons were obtained legally at this time. It was a sniper-style setup, according to police.
It is not clear if the shooter live-streamed the event or recorded it before posting the video on the internet. It does not appear the suspect had previously been in trouble with the law.
The police chief announced that Spencer was randomly shooting people outside his window at anyone in the street. Witnesses reported hearing explosions when the shooting began.
The shooter posted on 4chan, “Dear God please forgive me.” After the shooting Spencer posted, “They’re in the wrong part of the building looking for me XD.” A final message at 3;36 p.m. stated, “Waiting for police to catch up with me.”
A picture of the inside of Spencer’s apartment showed a photo of “Yakub, a mythical Black scientist popularized by Nation of Islam founder Elijah Muhammad and mockingly turned into a meme by 4chan denizens.”
Emma Schultz lives in the apartment next to Spencer. When she heard the shots, she called her father who was out for a walk. He told her the sound she heard was simply “construction noise.” Schultz ran out of her apartment to help when she saw people lying on the ground.
Schultz said she had not seen Spencer before. Others in the building recalled seeing him, but apparently, he did not leave his apartment often.
Kenya lives on the second floor and was not home when the shooting occurred. “I was scared for my roommate,” he reported.
Spencer posted on Edmund Burke’s Wikipedia page, ” “A gunman shot at the school on April 22, 2022. The suspect is still at large.” The revision linked to a profile for Spencer, describing him as “proudly uncircumcised” and an “AR-15 aficionado.”
When the shooting began, Edmund Burke was immediately placed on lockdown. All the children have been reunified with their families and the suspect shot himself.
Written by Jeanette Vietti
Sources:
The Daily Beast: Livestreaming D.C. Gunman Found Dead With Sniper’s Arsenal; by Justin Rohrlich, Zachary Petrizzo, Corbin Bolies
The U.S. Sun: ARSENAL OF WEAPONS Edmund Burke School shooting ‘suspect’ Raymond Spencer, 23, ‘found DEAD with guns & ammo stashed in sniper type setup’; by Israel Salas-Rodriguez and Caitlin Hornik
NBC Washington: ‘Sniper-Type Setup’: DC Police Chief Announces Shooting Suspect Found Dead
Featured Image Courtesy of Josh’s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License
Inline Image Courtesy of Josh’s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License
