At least three people are injured after ‘gunman opens fire from apartment building’ in Washington DC

A heavy police presence has blocked streets in a residential neighborhood near schools in Washington DC where a gunman reportedly starting shooting from an apartment building.

There were reports of at least three people – two males and one female – who were shot and injured around 3.30pm, NBC Washington reported

The shooter is still at large, however, police were recently seen escorting a man in a black graphic t-shirt in handcuffs toward a police car. It is unclear if the man is the shooter.

Police are reportedly entering the AVA building on Connecticut and Van Ness Avenue wearing riot gear and armed with guns, a local reported.  Dozens of cop cars and emergency vehicles have flooded the streets and office can be seen taking ‘defensive positions,’ according to a Fox 5 livestream.

People on social media reported hearing heavy gunfire in the area, with multiple social media videos depicting the sound of heavy, rapid fire gunshots. Witnesses told Fox 5 that they heard at least 100 gunshots go off in the area.

A mass casualties unit is reportedly heading toward the scene and a shelter in place order has been put in place. UDC-Van Ness campus is now in lockdown and students have been told to shelter in place until further notice.

A mother heard from her eleventh-grade son at Edmund Burke School that he heard multiple gunshots and the students have since taken cover. Another father reported he saw some of the school’s windows were broken, according to NBC Washington.

A group of Edmund Burke ninth-graders have been pictured hiding in a liquor store, according to WUSA 9.

‘This is the worst nightmare any parent can have,’ another parent told NBC Washington.

A Howard Law School student, who did not give her name, told WUSA 9 that she was on her lunch break when heard multiple gunshot go off.

‘It was an entire standstill, everybody stopped their cars,’ she said. ‘We were bumper to bumper. We didn’t know what to do…Then we heard another round go off, at least 20 shots. We started to go down Van Ness and all the cars stopped again, and we heard another round go off. We didn’t know how close the bullets were so we just stopped right there.’

She also reported seeing children and adults running down the street.

Parents are waiting near Edmund Burke as the children are in lockdown inside.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosive (ATF) are also assisting DC Police. Police have been seen with longarm guns and taking defensive positions behind cars and other vehicles, Fox 5 reported.