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 juvenile female - who were shot and injured around 3.30pm, NBC Washington reported.
Police were seen escorting a man in a black graphic t-shirt in handcuffs toward a police car around 4.30pm. It is unclear if the man is the shooter.
An unverified video has been circulating social media that people are claiming the gunman took of him shooting victims.
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.
Groups of people were seen being escorting by police, some running alongside police.
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.