A morning in the Congress Heights neighborhood of Southeast Washington, D.C. was shattered by violence on August 10, 2022. Leslie Simpson, a 52-year-old woman, was shot multiple times in what police have described as a domestic incident. The shooting occurred around 8:17 a.m. in the 200 block of Savannah Street, Southeast, at the Savannah Heights Apartments.
Responding officers found Simpson suffering from multiple gunshot wounds.
She was rushed to a local hospital, but despite all life-saving efforts, she was pronounced dead. Witnesses at the apartment complex reported hearing an argument just before the gunshots rang out. A nearby SUV was also struck by a bullet during the incident.
The investigation quickly identified 65-year-old Steven Dreher, also a resident of Southeast D.C., as the suspect. Following the shooting, law enforcement tracked Dreher's vehicle to a rest stop on I-95 in Laurel, Maryland. There, he was discovered deceased from what appeared to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound. The Metropolitan Police Department has stated that the shooting was a targeted event and that there is no further threat to the community in relation to this case.
