WASHINGTON — Metropolitan Police arrested a 61-year-old man in Southeast Washington on Monday after a shooting outside an East Capitol Street apartment complex left one man wounded and drew a heavy police response near St. Luke’s Catholic Church.
Matthew Lee Murphy, 61, of Southeast D.C. was taken into custody yesterday following a shooting and barricade in the 4900 block of A Street SE.
Court documents filed in D.C. Superior Court say officers responded shortly before 7:45 a.m. on Oct. 27 to reports of gunfire and found a man with a gunshot wound to the leg on the steps of St. Luke’s Roman Catholic Church at 4923 East Capitol Street.
Witnesses told detectives they saw two residents leave for school that morning before hearing two quick gunshots minutes later. A neighbor reported seeing Murphy walking toward the back of the building before the shots were fired. The witness said Murphy then returned “hurried and frantic,” holding a black semiautomatic handgun and appeared to rack the weapon while pacing near the entrance.
Murphy entered the building before officers arrived and witnesses told investigators there is only one way in and out of the apartment complex. The same witness also alleged that in recent months Murphy had harassed the family of one of the victims and threatened to shoot them.Metropolitan Police Emergency Response established a barricade around the apartment building to look for Murphy but was unsuccessful in locating him.
Metropolitan Police Emergency Response established a barricade of the apartment building looking for Murphy, but were unsuccessful in locating him.
Several hours later, a call was dispatched for a “miscellaneous meet” where a patrol officer met with Murphy, who told him he had been “sick for some time.” Murphy then explained a young lady in the building had “put a root” (spell) on him that allowed the woman to “see through his eyes, hear though his ears, and the unknown female hooked up four homosexuals to him.”
Upon the arrival of additional officers, the suspect was put in custody and taken to the Sixth District police station.
The victim is in stable condition with a gunshot wound to the right hip.
The shooting followed a violent weekend in Washington, D.C. where 13 people were shot on Friday night, five in one incident near Howard University.
