Five people have been shot in a fashionable neighbourhood of Washington, D.C., little more than a mile from the White House, prompting a major police operation and a hunt for the gunman.
Officers were called to multiple scenes in the Logan Circle district early on Thursday morning (November 12), but authorities said the suspect remained at large and the exact locations of the shootings had not yet been established. Metropolitan Police Department spokeswoman Nicole Deaner said investigators were still working to piece together the circumstances of the attack.
Police cordon and response
Police sealed off part of the 1500 block of 15th Street, an area home to a VIDA Fitness gym, St. Luke's Episcopal Church and residential buildings. Roads surrounding the scene were closed as armed officers flooded the area, The Mirror US reports.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said federal agents had been deployed to assist the investigation, while police urged the public to stay away from the cordoned-off area. The condition of the victims has not been disclosed.
Active shooting alert
"CRITICAL ALERT: MPD is on the scene of an ACTIVE SHOOTING in the area of 15th and P Street, Northwest. MPD’s Emergency Response Team is on scene," the post read, adding: "AVOID THE AREA."
Residents took to social media to describe the chaos, adding photos taken from their home windows showing a large police presence at the scene. One user reported that the shooting happened at a VIDA gym and that they had heard 8-10 additional gunshots after initial gunfire.
Shocked D.C. residents have claimed they saw an "elderly man" with a gun and that the shooting began inside the gym.
