A 36-year-old woman was fatally shot and dumped from a vehicle in front of morning commuters Tuesday. Montgomery County police said the suspected gunman, who was arrested over the weekend for violating protective orders, was found dead that night of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, police said.
Police identified the victim as Heather Lynn McGuire, and the suspect as 51-year-old Philip J. Gilberti, both of Rockville. The pair had a “domestic” relationship, according to police.
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Court documents show that McGuire had a protective order against Gilberti at the time of the killing, and that Gilberti had been arrested over the weekend for violating the terms of a stay-away order. Gilberti was released Monday from the Montgomery County jail.
About 9:40 a.m. on Tuesday, police said, McGuire was shot and shoved out of a van at the intersection of Connecticut and Knowles avenues. Gilberti was found dead about 10:30 p.m. Tuesday in a residence in the 800 block of Fordham Street in Rockville, Montgomery County police said.
One witness to McGuire’s shooting told The Washington Examiner that she was stopped at the traffic signal a few cars behind a light-green minivan when she noticed its male driver arguing with a female passenger. The witness agreed to speak to The Examiner on the condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation.
She said she didn’t think much about the arguing couple, until the woman in the van jumped from the vehicle and screamed for help.
The witness said she fumbled with her phone and called 911 as the man reached through the passenger-side door and dragged the woman back into the vehicle.
Shots rang out, and the witness said she saw the woman’s body slumped back into the street.
“It was so much for me to see. How could it happen right here in the city?” the woman said.
The van sped away, southbound on Connecticut Avenue. Police found the van abandoned shortly after noon at Parklawn Drive and Wilkins Avenue in Rockville.
Gilberti has a lengthy rap sheet with charges that include several arrests through the years for telephone threats, trespassing and violating protective orders.
Examiner reporter Naomi Jagoda contributed to this report.
