Five people were shot on Thursday morning at and near the VIDA Fitness gym in Logan Circle, D.C. police said. One victim was killed and another was critically injured in the incident, which terrorized gym-goers, residents, commuters, local businesses and people at work in a typically busy intersection.
Police confirmed that the lone suspect died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. He was found in his home on the seventh floor of the same building, Metropolitan Police Chief Jeffery Carroll said in a morning press conference. The victim who was killed, 46-year-old James Stuart, was the building’s property manager, authorities said.
Police identified the shooter as Matt Lambert, 55. He lived at the building in the 1500 block of 15th Street Northwest and had been in an ongoing dispute with its condo association management over maintenance issues and mold, according to Carroll, who said authorities believe the shooting was “related to that dispute.”
The argument in question was all-consuming and bitter. Lambert sued the condo association last year and, months before shooting, previously told a reporter who now works for The Washington Sun that he had spent nearly $200,000 in legal and engineering fees as part of the battle.
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Joel Braithwaite, the attorney representing Lambert in the lawsuit, said Thursday marked the anniversary of Lambert burying his mother. He said that Lambert had been in good spirits when they spoke just days ago. Nothing he can say would justify what happened, Braithwaite said, though the “grueling” evidence discovery process can often take a toll on those involved, in ways that aren’t always visible.
“I don’t want the story to be that litigation led to this result,” Braithwaite said. “Litigation is supposed to prevent these results by having people litigating court and not have that spill out into the streets.”
The attorney learned of the shooting on the news, at first thinking Lambert himself was a victim of gun violence.
“When you see the property before you purchased it was the most beautiful things you could ever see,” Braithwaite said. “And as he lives in it now, it was a war zone.”
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The shooting generated a massive police response, leading to a shelter-in-place order for both the neighborhood and several nearby schools.
Authorities said that Lambert first fatally shot Stuart around 8 a.m. inside the VIDA gym, then shot the other four victims from his apartment’s balcony, firing toward them at street level. Carroll said Thursday afternoon that the shootings happened in “a matter of minutes.” It was not clear whether Lambert knew any of the other four victims, Carroll said.
Officers spoke with Lambert for around an hour in the apartment, during which time he fired through the door at police “at least twice.” Then, while negotiators were on the phone with Lambert, officers heard a single gunshot from inside his home. After that shot, Lambert stopped talking to officers, and then police forced their way in, Carroll said earlier Thursday. Lambert was pronounced dead at the scene, Carroll said.
Most of the discussion with negotiators “was about the homeowners association and challenges with that,” Carroll said. Lambert also started a fire, Carroll said, and broke the gas line inside of his apartment fireplace. The building’s sprinkler system went off, and first responders shut off the gas line to mitigate the danger. In addition to three firearms — a shotgun, a rifle and a handgun — police found containers of gasoline and other flammable materials inside Lambert’s apartment. Police said he used the handgun to shoot Stuart in the gym, then the rifle to shoot the four other victims. The shotgun was used “at the end of the incident,” Carroll said.
None of the firearms were registered in D.C., according to authorities.
Four victims, two men and two women, were transported by D.C. Fire and Emergency Medical Services to local hospitals for medical treatment, Fire and EMS Chief John Donnelly said. Three of them have non-life-threatening injuries, and another remained in critical condition as of Thursday afternoon, Carroll said.
Police received a first report of the shooting just before 8 a.m., and had officers dispatched and on scene within 30 seconds, Carroll said. As officers evacuated the building, gunshots “rang out” on the seventh floor, where Lambert was barricaded.
Michael Carney, a regular at VIDA, told The Sun he was on a treadmill in the gym when the shooting started. He heard “one pop” that he assumed was an exercise ball popping, got off the treadmill and saw a victim on the gym floor who had been shot in the head. People began to evacuate.
“Everyone was kind of just hiding behind planters and stuff,” he said.
The Washington Sun’s Martin Austermuhle talked to Carney on the scene:
People fled from the gym and into a neighboring apartment building when a fire alarm was pulled. Once outside of the gym, Carney said he heard five or 10 shots that seemed to be coming from the alley, meaning he thought the shooter had fled.
Suzanne Garwood was also inside VIDA. She heard “an enormous, loud thing” from the ladies’ locker room and more shots outside of the gym after being evacuated. She said she had heard that one man was shot in VIDA, and a woman inside an elevator.
“We heard gunshots, I think about two, and then by the time we looked there was a guy on the floor,” James Spellman, who was also in VIDA, told The Sun. “Another gym member ran up to him … and the gym member announced, ‘He’s dead.’”
“I just think it’s really sad to have someone that young — instantly his life vanished,” Spellman said.
Dozens of witnesses were evacuated from the gym around 9:20 a.m. and later moved in Metro buses to a community center.
Kevin Schweer, president of the condo building above the gym, told The Sun that there was a fire on the 7th floor of the building. Like Garwood, Schweer had also heard someone had been shot in the gym, and he himself saw another person who’d been shot in the parking garage elevator.
Earlier in the morning, Police asked D.C. residents to avoid the area around 15th Street and P Street Northwest and barricaded a block in the immediate area. Carroll said Thursday afternoon that the massive police response, from both local and federal authorities, was well-organized despite the chaotic nature of the event.
“It’s a very complex situation,” he added, and “everyone did an outstanding job today.”
Carroll also thanked community members who provided authorities with information that helped them understand what happened.
A shelter-in-place order was issued for the immediate area just before 9 a.m. and multiple local schools were placed on “alert” status, meaning no one could come in or out, but normal activities would continue.
That alert status was lifted at 11:15 a.m. after the District of Columbia Public Schools received an “all-clear” from MPD. The VIDA location will be closed until further notice, the company said.
“We’re devastated. Someone was killed in our city this morning. A senseless act of gun violence,” said Mayor Muriel Bowser at the press conference. “I am very grateful to MPD and Fire and EMS who responded immediately, quickly, and contained this situation.”
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