Trans Woman Thought to Have Died in Gun Fight with Security Guards

A Dec. 29 shootout between security guards and an unknown person at an empty building in Washington, D.C. ended when the guards thought the person shooting at them ran off. A subsequent search of the building revealed nothing.

But the next day, the body of a transwoman was discovered in the building, reports local NBC affiliate channel 4.

The news report said that security personnel responded to a report of someone inside the building. When the security guards entered the structure at around 10:30 p.m., they encountered an individual who reportedly fired a gun at them. The guards returned fire and thought they had chased the intruder away.

Police subsequently searched the building, accompanied b a police dog, but found no one there.

And yet, the following day, Dec. 30, a body was discovered in the building, along with a gun. Authorities say they believe the body to be that of the individual who fired at the security guards.

The name of the deceased has not yet been released, the report said, and police do not intend to make the name public until after notifying her family.

The report cited an advocate for trans people named Earline Budd as saying that the building was reputedly a place where sex workers plied their trade.

If the transwoman found dead at the scene was the same individual who opened fire at the security guards, and if she died as a result of that firefight, the case would be in stark contrast to the 25 known victims of anti-trans violence who died in 2019, most of them as a result of gun violence. Anti-LGBTQ attacks have surged in the last few years, with trans women of color, in particular, being targeted with lethal violence.

Prior to the Dec. 29 incident, 2019's last known trans victim was Yahira Nesby, who died of multiple gunshot wounds in Brooklyn, NY, on Dec. 19.

A male suspect was discovered behind the building where Nesby was killed. The man had a broken foot, and police theorize he injured himself when leaping from a second-story window in a bid to escape. It is unclear what relationship the suspect had with Nesby.

Police say they are still looking into the incident in Washington, D.C.

Watch the NBC news clip below.