Reporter’s notebook: shooting brings home grim reality in the US capital

We were weeks into a three-month assignment reporting from the SCMP bureau in Washington when we heard a shooting just around the corner from our apartment building. From our flat, we often hear trucks going past and loud noise from the ventilation system several storeys below.

But as we got ready for work at 8am on Thursday we heard something unusual – “bang, bang, bang”. It was gunfire, and it sounded like it was right outside our apartment.

Soon after, we heard fire alarms, police sirens and...