Suspect found dead after shooting 4

At least four people, including a 12-year-old girl, were shot when a gunman unleashed a flurry of bullets in the capital of the United States, leading to lockdowns at several schools on Friday. The injured were expected to recover and the suspect was found dead hours later.

Police found the suspect dead inside an apartment at the scene as Metropolitan Police Department officers conducted door-to-door searches of buildings in the area. The suspect's name was not released, pending notification to his family.

Authorities had earlier said they were seeking a 23-year-old Virginia man as a person of interest. The man had been "linked to social media postings" that emerged as part of the investigation, Metropolitan Police assistant chief Stuart Emerman said.

Police believe the man erected a "sniper-type setup" with a tripod and rifle in his apartment and began firing indiscriminately at people walking below, police chief Robert Contee said. The shooting was recorded and posted online on message board 4chan.

The gunfire broke out shortly before 3:30 pm near the corner of Connecticut Avenue and Van Ness Street in the Van Ness neighborhood of Washington, just as parents were picking up their children from the Edmund Burke School, a private college preparatory school.

Police in Virginia's Fairfax County said on Saturday they had identified a residence tied to the suspected shooter and assisted District of Columbia officers in executing a search warrant.

The University of the District of Columbia went into lockdown, telling students and staff to shelter and stay in place.

The four shooting victims－a 54-year-old retired police officer, a woman in her 30s, a woman in her mid-60s who was grazed by a bullet, and a 12-year-old girl who was shot in the arm－were all expected to recover. Authorities had warned residents for hours to stay inside their homes while they searched for the shooter.

"Unfortunately, tonight, I looked into the eyes of parents who were terrified, and they were terrified thinking of what might happen to their children," Mayor Muriel Bowser said late on Friday.

"This epidemic of gun violence in our country, the easy access to firearms－it has got to stop."

Agencies Via Xinhua