UPDATE: Tuesday – 12/11/2012, 7:12pm ET
WASHINGTON – D.C. police have confirmed that Javon Foster, the suspect in the fatal Metrobus shooting, was found dead in New York of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot.
WTOP will bring you more as it becomes available.
EARLIER: Monday – 12/10/2012, 10:03am ET
WASHINGTON – The suspect in a Metrobus shooting that killed a woman and injured a toddler was in a relationship with the victim and had a history of domestic violence, according to court records.
The suspect is identified as 27-year-old Javon Foster. Court records indicate he fathered a child, a baby girl, with the victim, 20-year-old Selina Brown. Police believe that child was the one injured in the shooting.
Police are looking for Foster, who is described as a black male, about 5 feet, 8 inches, weighing about 160 pounds. Police say he should be considered armed and dangerous.
Sources familiar with the investigation tell WTOP police are now investigating the possibility that Foster may have committed suicide somewhere near New York City. Investigators are trying to make a positive identification on a body found in a car near Long Island.
A spokeswoman with the Hempstead Police Department tells WTOP there was a suicide in their village on Monday, although they have not officially identified the body as Javon Foster.
Hempstead is in Nassau County, Long Island, about 15 miles east of Queens.
Foster was convicted of simple assault and making threats against another woman in 2010. He also has a drug conviction dating back to 2007 and a drug charge in 2011 that was dropped.
Brown filed for custody of the baby in February, but the case was dropped after she failed to show up for a court hearing.
Police say Foster followed Brown as she boarded the bus with her 23-month-old daughter in her arms near Minnesota Avenue and 19th Street in Southeast around 5:40 p.m. Sunday.
Police say Foster specifically targeted Brown, shooting her three times in the face, neck and chest. The mother died at the scene.
It’s not clear if the child was directly shot or grazed by a bullet meant for her mother. D.C. police say the child was grazed by a bullet, while a spokesman for D.C. Fire & EMS says the child was taken to the hospital with life-threatening gunshot injuries that appeared to be to the face or head.
The child was in stable condition on Monday afternoon, says a police spokesperson.
Police say with Brown on board, the bus driver lurched the bus forward about a block in a bid to move away from the gunfire.
Metro spokeswoman Caroline Lucas says the transit agency has given police video taken from the bus. In addition to the driver, there was at least one other person on the bus.
Police initially told WTOP a man had been arrested in the shooting, but a spokeswoman says an arrest has not been made. Early Monday, police said no weapon had yet been recovered.
The driver of the bus, who was shaken up by the shooting, has been released from the hospital.
Anyone with information about this case is asked to call the police at 202-727- 9099. Additionally, anonymous information may be submitted to the department’s TEXT TIP LINE by text messaging 50411.
WTOP’s Mark Segraves and Dick Uliano contributed to this report. Follow SegravesWTOP and @WTOP on Twitter.
(Copyright 2012 by WTOP. All Rights Reserved.)
