A man shot and killed a woman in Northwest D.C. and then fled onto a Metrobus, where he was killed by police after he pointed a gun at officers early Tuesday, authorities say.

The man attacked the woman, with whom he had been in a relationship, near Wisconsin Avenue NW and Porter Street at about 7:10 a.m. Tuesday, interim chief of police Jeffery Carroll said. When police arrived, they found the woman on the sidewalk. She was pronounced dead on the scene.

Witnesses called police and described the suspect who boarded a bus.

Minutes later, Metropolitan Police Department officers stopped a bus on Wisconsin Avenue near Upton Street, boarded it and began evacuating passengers. They saw a person fitting the suspect’s description, Carroll said.

Officers approached the suspect, who reached toward a bag, pulled out a firearm and pointed it at an officer, Carroll said.

Two MPD officers fired, shooting the suspect and hitting the suspect’s gun, Carroll said.

The suspect was pronounced dead on the scene.

A few people were still on the bus when police opened fire, Carroll said, but most passengers had been evacuated.

“Very tragic situation,” Carroll said. He said police believe the killing of the woman is a case of domestic violence.

Officers found armed suspect on bus ‘just in time,’ Carroll said

The man was carrying a gun with an extended magazine, meaning it had the potential to hold a lot of ammunition, Carroll said.

Carroll said the officers were “very tactical” in the way they approached boarding the bus.

“I mean this, this could have been a very tragic situation overall. It’s terrible that anyone lost their life, but we’re having so many people on the bus here. The officers were very tactical in the way they approached the bus about evacuating the bus and how they approached the individual,” Carroll said.

“You know, when officers put their lives on the line every single day and every call for service, you never know what could happen with that. So, in this case, the officers were able to respond just in time,” Carroll said.

No officers were reported injured.

When responding to a question about bus safety, Maurice McKinney, Deputy Chief for the Metro Transit Police, said the agency has put more officers on buses.

“We’ve added a lot of different virtual patrols, and we’ve also made sure that we’ve had plainclothes officers and uniforms that will pay attention to not only for the safety of our patrons but for the safety of our operators,” McKinney said.

U.S. Secret Service officers responded to the scene and were outside the bus when MPD officers opened fire. The Secret Service helped manage the scene.

Domestic violence was motive behind woman’s killing, police say

Police are investigating the relationship between the man and woman killed. The man had previously been arrested in domestic incidents involving the woman, Carroll said.

The names of the woman and man were not immediately released.

Wisconsin Avenue was closed between Porter and Upton streets as of midday Tuesday. Law enforcement and emergency vehicles were blocking Wisconsin Avenue near the Sidwell Friends school.

“We’ve had multiple high-profile domestic violence incidents here in the Second District. This is the second domestic homicide that we’ve had this year, involving individuals. Our hearts go out to the families and friends of all the individuals that are involved in the situation,” Carroll said.

In February, a man killed a mother of three in front of her children and shot her 10-year-old daughter in D.C.’s Glover Park neighborhood before fleeing with the pair’s 3-year-old son.

If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, contact the National Domestic Violence Hotline by calling 1-800-799-SAFE (7233), visiting www.thehotline.org or texting LOVEIS to 22522.