D.C. police have revealed new information and crime scene photos nearly three weeks after a gunman opened fire from the fifth floor of an apartment building onto a school in D.C.’s Van Ness neighborhood, but say the sniper's motive is still unknown.
Hundreds of gun shots rang out just before classes let out at the Edmund Burke School on April 22.
Four people were injured, including a 12-year-old girl, police said.
Photos D.C. police released Thursday show the bullet holes that ripped through the windows of the Edmund Burke School and shattered glass on the floor of an elevated walkway.
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The gunman, Raymond Spencer, carried out the shooting from the fifth floor apartment he rented at the AVA Van Ness building, police said.
Evidence photos show 239 bullet casings on the floor of his apartment.
Surveillance video recorded the gunman wheeling a suitcase into the lobby of the apartment building at 12:43 a.m., police said.
Inside the apartment, police later found several guns and a sniper tripod, authorities said.
At 3:18 p.m., police received the first calls about shots fired.
Hours later, officers forced through the sniper's apartment door and found him slumped against the bathroom tub with a self inflicted gunshot wound.
The apartment was nearly empty. It only contained a mattress, two tables and weapons, according to police.
One photo inside the gunman's apartment show his rifles looking straight down on the school.
Police Chief Robert Contee said the gunman wasn’t on law enforcement’s radar, and he became increasingly isolated in the year leading up to the shooting.
“He separated from his family at least a year prior to this, and really, he had not been in contact with anyone. We know that he didn’t have – we’re not really finding any friends and so when you say a true loner, this individual, at least for the last year or so and prior to that, really, really defines a loner, in my view,” Contee said.
Nearly three weeks after the shooting, investigators say they still don't know his motive.
