Police are looking for a man who posed as a police officer and shot a man and a boy at a facility for teens awaiting trial in Washington, D.C.
The attack took place on Tuesday in the 6000 block of Clay Street Northeast. According to the Metropolitan Police Department, officers responded to reports of a shooting at 2:54 p.m.
The suspect gained access to a residential facility by posing as a police officer. He was dressed all in black and wore a vest emblazoned with “police” and a star badge around his neck, as photos from surveillance footage show.
According to the preliminary investigation, the suspect gained access to the facility and “once inside and after a brief conversation, the suspect pulled out a handgun and fired it multiple times, hitting both victims,” police said.
The suspect claimed that he was an officer who was serving an arrest warrant for one of the teens housed in the private facility, NBC Washington reported.
“He recognized the person who was in the facility, immediately pulled out a handgun and started shooting at that person,” Metropolitan Police Department Commander John Haines told the station.
Haines said police believe the gunman targeted the teen victim.
“He absolutely tried and specifically targeted that person,” Haines said.
He said an “innocent person” who worked at the facility was also hit by the gunfire.
The suspect then fled the scene in a dark-colored SUV.
Officers found that the victims had suffered gunshot wounds and they were taken to local hospitals for “serious injuries.” Haines said her injuries were not life-threatening.
The names and ages of the victims were not released.
Police are asking the public to help identify the suspect or the vehicle used to flee the scene. A reward of up to $10,000 is available to anyone who provides information that leads to the arrest and conviction of a person behind a violent crime.
The teens housed at the facility were relocated following the shooting, an official familiar with the investigation told NBC Washington.
The shooting came days after burglars posing as FBI agents, dressed in tactical gear and armed with flashlights and weapons, broke into a house in the 1700 block of Bay Street Southeast on December 14, the station reported.