'Unhinged' driver seen threatening Hispanic crossing guard in Chevy Chase

WASHINGTON - DC Police are asking for the public's help in finding a man who threatened to shoot someone near an elementary school.

It happened Monday afternoon near Lafayette Elementary School in Chevy Chase.

Witnesses said the man in a dark Nissan Murano came up to Broad Branch Road while driving along Northampton Street and stopped near the crossing guard.

It was then witnesses said he began verbally attacking the guard, who is Hispanic, with racial slurs and said he "did not belong working in this area around white kids." The man also said he was an ex-Marine and "used to shoot people like him at the border," according to witnesses.

After driving off, witnesses said the man even made a U-turn to come back and continue his threatening tirade against the crossing guard and nearby schoolkids and residents, saying things like, "I should shoot you up" and "I should just run you over."

Lily Buerkle was picking her daughter up from school and witnessed the whole thing. She immediately recorded the man's license plate and called 911.

"My sense is that no matter who had asked him to stop, he was unhinged, he was threatening, he was violent," Buerkle added. "And he would have attacked anybody whether they were African American, white, Hispanic, he would have used that against them.

"And the most concerning part is he's out here threatening to shoot right in front of a school…. When he came speeding back up the street the second time, I told my daughter, 'there's something wrong with this guy.' I told her to duck down in the car and I went running to make sure I can get his tags."

Surveillance video shows the man in a dark Nissan Murano with California Dealer Plates reading DLR-890-651. Anyone who recognizes the car or has any information on the suspect should call police immediately.

Officers increased patrols in the area, but Buerkle was concerned about the initial police response.

It took two calls to get officers to the school a half hour later. DC's Office of Unified Communications confirmed that "human error" led the first 911 call to be labeled as Priority 2 instead of Priority 1. A rep with the office told FOX 5 once the caller said someone "threatened to shoot," officers should have been dispatched right away.