Deadly shooting at Northwest DC home follows months of complaints over alleged squatter
WASHINGTON - A death investigation is underway in Northwest D.C. after a 49-year-old man shot and killed himself at a million-dollar Palisades home that neighbors said has been occupied by a suspected squatter for months.
What we know:
D.C. police responded to the home on 48th Street, Northwest, for a reported burglary before the call escalated to a shooting.
The man has been identified as 49-year-old Mostafa Khermiche. The woman living in the home was reportedly livestreaming at the time the shooting occurred.
According to neighbors, the woman and her 8-year-old daughter have been living in the home since June without knowledge or permission from the owner who lives overseas. Neighbors said the woman was invited inside by someone performing construction work while the owner prepared to sell the property.
The woman and a male visitor allowed reporters into the backyard of the home after the shooting, though both declined to do on-camera interviews. The visitor said that Khermiche was the woman’s "friend with benefits."
According to court records, Khermiche had a court appearance two days before the shooting for felony domestic violence. The offense was documented as an assault on a police officer.
Dig deeper:
The shooting comes after a string of disturbances at the home. Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) Commissioner J.P. Szymkowicz (3D 07) reported that police have been called to the address multiple times over recent months, including for a separate shooting reported earlier in the week.
According to court records, police have received more than 25 calls for service at the location since June.
Szymkowicz expressed frustration over municipal delays in addressing the situation through the legal system.
"If you don’t have a lease and the person is in the house, you still have to go to landlord-tenant court. You can’t just turn off the electricity… You can’t send in goons to get them out… You have to follow the law, that means going to landlord-tenant court and waiting your turn to get a hearing," Szymkowicz said.
"And apparently even though the case might have been filed in June, there’s no hearing until November, and that is disgusting, and that is a city problem," Szymkowicz said. "People in the meantime who live right around here in Palisades are afraid, and they should be afraid."
Neighbors indicated they were scared of retaliation, refusing to speak on camera about the shooting or the alleged squatter situation.
FOX 5 DC reached out to the Ward 3 D.C. Councilmember regarding the trespassing issues at the residence, though we have not received a response.
The Source: Information in this article is from D.C. Police, court records and original FOX 5 DC reporting.