One day after police were called to a vacant D.C. building for reports of shots fired, a body was found inside.
It started late Sunday night in the 4200 block of Barnaby Road SE.
“Armed security guards were securing a vacant building when they came in contact with an armed suspect,” said D.C. police Chief Peter Newsham at an end-of-the-year news conference.
Newsham: Sunday, private security guards exchanged gunfire with a person inside a vacant bldg. on Barnaby Rd. SE. It was believed the suspect fled, but Mon. a body was found, now chief says she is a transgender woman. Her ID is being withheld until next of kin notified @WTOP pic.twitter.com/x724K3e0OE
— Michelle Basch (@mbaschWTOP) December 31, 2019
There was an exchange of gunfire before the intruder ran away from the guards.
D.C. police responded around 10:45 p.m., searched the building with dogs and found no one inside.
But shortly before 5 p.m. Monday, police were called back to the building because a woman’s body had been found.
“The decedent was carrying an identification card indicating she was an adult male; however, we have received information through our investigation that the decedent identified as a transgender female,” Newsham said.
The woman’s identity is being withheld until family can be notified.
Investigators think she is the same person who traded shots with security guards on Sunday.
Police found a handgun at the scene.
Because of the use of force by the security guards, a joint investigation is underway involving homicide detectives and the police department’s internal affairs division.
Below, see a map of the area around the vacant building where it all took place:
