WASHINGTON D.C., DC — A gunman opened fire near Edmund Burke School in D.C. a week ago, hurting four people including a 12-year-old girl. The Van Ness community was at a standstill that day as police worked to capture the shooter.
Investigators have said they still don't know why Raymond Spencer started shooting, or if he targeted the school and children.
A restaurant owner, nearly a mile away in Cleveland Park, thinks one of the shooter's bullets hit his window. The owner at Byblos Deli, who just goes by Mark, said the bullet hit this window at the same time the shooting happened.
A spokesperson for Byblos Deli said, "If you look at the where that bullet hit the glass it's head level," Jake Genachowski said.
If someone had been standing just outside of Byblos Deli last Friday, the bullet that hit this window would've hit them.
"He (Mark) was sitting very close to where the gunshot, or the bullet, hit the glass. He had thought it was just someone throwing a rock at his building. Broad daylight in Cleveland Park, I don't think that's where anyone's mind went," Genachowski said.
One bullet pierced a window at Byblos Deli, it didn't go through; but a few doors down, we see found another single gunshot in Uptown Vision.
"I was across the street walking home and I heard the gunshots ring out and in this neighborhood, it sounded like it could have been gunshots, but there's been a ton of construction," Genachowski said.
The single-shot hit the deli at the same time DC Police were responding to the Van Ness shooting near Edmund Burke School. Investigators identified Raymond Spencer as the shooter and found a plethora of weapons and ammunition.
Samantha Smith is a teacher at a D.C. Public School and was stuck for eight hours trying to get home.
"I'm anxious all day every day. You just think school is a safe space and now it's not," Smith said.
It's still a mystery to police as to why Spencer was shooting at school-aged children. Smith said as an educator, her instant concern was the safety of the students at the school she once attended herself as a teen and hopes the students are able to heal from the trauma of the shooting.
"Don't let it kill your love of school or your love of learning. Don't let the fear stop you from enjoying your time in school and that your teachers are there to keep you safe," Smith said.
Police said they're awaiting ballistic results to ensure it was in fact bullets from Spencer's gun, nearly a mile away. Genachowski said things could've been so much worse. "We're all very lucky here that the shooting was at 3:30 and not 12:30 because I think if this shot was during the lunchtime rush, there's a real good chance someone's would be hurt or worse," he said.