Lawsuit Alleges DC Apartment Building Changed Locks on Shooting Victim

A Howard University graduate claims he was forced out of his luxury apartment building on 14th Street after becoming the victim of a violent crime there, and now a D.C. judge has ruled portions of the man's lawsuit that allege racial discrimination and other offenses by the building’s management can go forward.

Patrick Oseni, then 28 years old, was shot on Jan. 4, 2020 after opening the door of his 4th floor apartment at Capitol View on 14th. 

"All I see is like an arm, reach into the apartment and start shooting," he said in a Zoom provided by his attorneys about the day that changed his life.

Oseni was struck in the head and torso. One of the bullets also damaged a water pipe and caused a flood in the building.

The crime remains unsolved. 

Attorney Mark Smith said Oseni, who knows of no reason why someone who would want to shoot him, returned home from the hospital, bandaged and in pain, to find the locks on his apartment had been changed.

He said his client was shocked when management told him why. 

“They told him that the other tenants were no longer comfortable with him living in the building, and pressed him to leave,” Smith said. “Persons associated with [United Dominion Realty Trust] chose to tell the other tenants that Mr. Oseni knew the persons who shot him."

Despite being current on his lease, Oseni chose to leave.

About a month later, according to a D.C. police report, officers made a large seizure of drugs and guns, including one with a large capacity ammunition feeding device, from an apartment in the same building also on the 4th floor.

Capitol View on 14th is owned by Colorado-based United Dominion Realty Trust, known as UDR. News4 requested comment on Oseni’s lawsuit and is awaiting a reply.

We are also working to learn more information on the drug raid that happened in the month after Oseni was shot.