On the night of September 14, 1994, police officers responded to a report of a person down at 4500 F Street. Upon their arrival, the officers found 26-year-old Michael Strong lying face-down in the street. Strong had sustained multiple gunshot wounds from several different firearms and was dead at the scene.

Several residents, upon being contacted and interviewed, reported hearing gunshots and a car speeding away at least fifteen minutes before Strong's body was found. One resident saw two black men near the area, and a white mid-sized car like a Cadillac or Chrysler driving westbound on F Street with the lights off.