WASHINGTON — D.C. police are asking for the public’s help locating the man that they believe fired into the Columbia Heights Metro station last week.
Police said that surveillance video shows 22-year-old Cesar Morales firing a gun at someone who was heading down the escalator into the Metro station around 12:15 p.m. on Aug. 25.
“This is a very dangerous guy, clearly he has no regard for public safety,” said D.C. Police Chief Peter Newsham on Friday.
“This is the type of thing that is very disturbing to a community. To see someone who goes into a public area in the middle of the day and fires a weapon into one of our Metro facilities. What I’d say to the public is we need your help right now.”
Morales is described as a Hispanic man who stands between 5-foot-2 and 5-foot-6, and weighs about 150 pounds. He has brown eyes and black hair and has several visible tattoos on his face and neck.
Officers saw a man who matched Morales’ description shortly after they arrived on the scene of the shooting and chased him. Officers saw him throw away a gun in the 3300 block of 16th Street NW. Although the man escaped, police officers were able to recover the gun.
Newsham said investigators do not believe that the intended victim was injured. The victim also fled the scene and has not come forward, complicating the investigation.
“We don’t know who the victim is,” he said. “So we really don’t have a motive in the case. Perhaps when we locate that person or bring the suspect into custody, we’ll be closer to what the motive was.”
D.C. police are also investigating a fatal shooting that happened on Wednesday night in the 1400 block of Harvard Street, NW, about two blocks away from the Columbia Heights Metro station.
Shooting at 2145 hours in the 1400 block of Harvard Street NW. Lookout for B/M, thin build, wearing all dark clothing. pic.twitter.com/Y7eecoHNKZ
— DC Police Department (@DCPoliceDept) August 31, 2017
“There are some folks who think the two cases may be related,” Newsham said. “At this point, we have nothing to tie the two cases together, but we’ll look very closely at that.”
Anyone with information about this case is asked to call D.C. police at 202-727-9099 or submit information anonymously to the department’s tip line by sending a text message to 50411.
A map of where the two incidents occurred can be seen below:
