News

UPDATE: Two Shot in Crystal City Office Building

By ARLnow.com
1/7

(Updated at 9:10 p.m.) Two people have been shot in an office building in Crystal City.

Police and medics responded en masse to the shooting, on the 1500 block of Crystal Drive. A female victim and a male suspect were both shot after police received multiple 911 calls about a possible domestic violence situation in an office suite, according to scanner traffic. Police confirmed later Wednesday afternoon that the shooting involved “a male suspect and female victim who were known to each other.”

The shooting happened around noon at the offices of the National Waste and Recycling Association. Police were previously called to the same office on July 15 for a report of a domestic situation involving threats made by a man against a female employee, ARLnow can report exclusively.

“Shots fired, shots fired!” an officer radioed to police dispatch upon entering the office. Witnesses told ARLnow that police rushed in to the building “fully armed” and told everyone to clear out.

Both people who were shot are reported to be in critical but stable condition and expected to survive, according Arlington County Police spokeswoman Ashley Savage. She said the shooting was “under investigation” and declined to immediately confirm whether the shooter was among those shot, nor would she say whether police fired any shots during their response.

A third person was reported to have suffered a minor foot injury during the incident, though it is unclear what caused it.

“I’m an Air Force veteran, but I’ve never seen anything like this,” a man who works in the building told ARLnow. He said the elevator does not require a fob or pass to get into the individual floors.

People in the building were said to be sheltering in place after the shooting, as police — including a SWAT team — searched the premises. The shelter in place status was lifted around 1:15 p.m., police said. The building is also home to an satellite office for consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton.

Roads in the area were closed by a massive, multi-agency active shooter response.

In the chaos prior to police arriving on scene, as dispatchers fielded multiple 911 calls, responding officers were told that the suspect might have had a gun, that he had locked himself and the female victim in a room, and that at least one caller had heard a “pop.”

Asked this afternoon whether police fired any shots inside the office, Savage replied that the “investigation is ongoing” and “no additional details related to the shooting are available at this time.”

Later Wednesday evening, police said in a press release (below) that both the suspect and an officer fired weapons during the incident. The suspect, identified as a 47-year-old D.C. resident, is facing several felony charges.

The Arlington County Police Department is announcing that charges have been sought in relation to the shooting that occurred in the 1500 block of Crystal Drive on August 28, 2019. Warrants for Aggravated Malicious Wounding, Felon in Possession of a Firearm and Use of a Firearm in the Commission of a Felony were issued for Mumeet Muhammed, 47, of Washington, D.C.

At approximately 12:00 p.m., police were dispatched to the report of a possible domestic situation involving a firearm. The preliminary investigation indicates that the armed male suspect forced entry into the occupied commercial suite and assaulted the female victim. Arriving officers made contact with the parties, and during the course of the incident, the suspect and an officer discharged their weapons.

The suspect and victim sustained gunshot wounds during the incident. They were transported by medics to an area hospital with critical injuries. Both the suspect and victim are expected to survive.

This remains an active and ongoing investigation. Anyone with information about this investigation is asked to contact Detective M. Henretty of the Arlington County Police Department’s Homicide/Robbery Unit at 703-228-4237 or [email protected].  Information may also be provided anonymously through the Arlington County Crime Solvers hotline at 1-866-411-TIPS (8477).

Vernon Miles contributed to this report