Image source: Reuters
Several people were injured by gunfire in a sports hall in Washington, DC, on Thursday, according to a local official.
While police in Washington confirmed to the BBC that five people were injured in the incident, and there are no details about their health condition yet.
City Council member Brooke Pinto indicated that the shooting occurred inside and around the hall and said that “several people” were injured.
She explained that the police are conducting a search for the suspect.
Washington Police announced on the X platform that they had deployed officers to the scene of “a shooting that is still ongoing.”
The authorities called on residents to avoid the area. The shooting occurred during rush hour and required massive police intervention.
The gym is a little more than a kilometer from the White House.
As soon as reports of the shooting came in, dozens of emergency vehicles rushed to the Logan Circle area, near downtown Washington, D.C.
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“We heard gunfire very close to where I was.”
BBC producer Jonathan Cassapo was an eyewitness to the incident, as he lives in the building where the shooting occurred, and was inside it at the time of the incident.
“I was going down the emergency exit after we heard the fire alarm go off in the building,” says Csabao.
As I was leaving, gunshots rang out very close to where I was standing.
"I could see smoke, and flashes of gunfire as well. We all started running immediately, and that was our first reaction."
Cassapo adds that he rushed directly with a group that took cover behind a small brick structure near the building.
He says that they were quickly brought into the building, while the fire brigades had already arrived at the site, because the fire alarm had been going on for about three minutes, and after that everyone started screaming.
BBC journalist Donovan Slack explains that she regularly visits the building where the shooting occurred, as it contains a number of shops and restaurants, and it is a building close to a commercial street.
Slack describes the area as an “up-and-coming trendy neighborhood that attracts a lot of young residents.”
Although the building is a little more than one kilometer away from the White House, the area is not considered close to federal buildings or areas that might suggest a connection to the Trump administration or Congress.
However, some residents affected by the incident have connections to the federal government or the media.
Slack adds: “I was there on Monday, and everything seemed normal: residents walking their dogs, shopping for food, gathering for meals in restaurants.
Today, the area is closed for security, and the police advise everyone to stay inside their homes and stay away from the accident site.”
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