One Dead After Gunfire at Vida Fitness in Logan Circle; Police Say Suspect Shot Himself

A gunman opened fire inside and outside Vida Fitness in the Logan Circle neighborhood of Washington, D.C., early Thursday, killing one person and wounding four others, police said. Interim Metropolitan Police Chief Jeffery W. Carroll later told reporters that officers found the suspect in a seventh-floor apartment with a gunshot wound that Carroll described as self-inflicted.

Carroll said a call came in just before 8 a.m. Eastern reporting a shooting inside a gym in the 1500 block of 15th Street NW. Officers arrived within 30 seconds and found an adult male who had been shot, he said. Police later found one person dead at the scene and four others who were taken to hospitals. Carroll said one of the wounded was in critical condition and three had non-life-threatening injuries, according to CBS News and NBC News. CBS News reported that Carroll said the person who died had been shot inside the gym; other victims included construction workers on the far side of the street and someone in a lobby or alley.

After the first shots, officers began clearing the gym and a nearby apartment building. “While clearing that building, gunshots rang out on the seventh floor,” Carroll said. Police determined the suspect had barricaded himself in an apartment on that floor, a unit they believe was his. Negotiators spoke with him for more than an hour. “Just moments ago, while communicating with that individual, officers heard a gunshot,” Carroll said. Officers forced their way in and found him “suffering from a gunshot wound.” Carroll later said the wound was self-inflicted and described the suspect as “contained,” but he did not pronounce the man dead. Federal sources later told NBC News the suspect had been pronounced dead; CBS News and the Associated Press reported the same.

Carroll described the suspect as a White man whose identity was known to police but was not released, and said the man was believed to be a member of the gym. A motive remained under investigation. “We do know there was a conflict between him and the homeowners association of that building, but at this point we’re continuing to look into that,” Carroll said, according to NBC News. Carroll said police believe a handgun was used. CBS News reported that Carroll said the man fired through the apartment door at officers twice, and a federal official told NBC News that no officer was struck.

The Metropolitan Police Department posted a critical alert at 8:23 a.m. Eastern warning of an active shooting near 15th and P streets NW. Police later issued a shelter-in-place warning and closed nearby streets. Vida Fitness told members the Logan Circle gym would remain closed until further notice.

Kacee R. Allen posted a rundown at 10:56 a.m. Eastern, sharing a clip of Carroll’s opening briefing, a video first posted by @itskikidanger. Allen wrote that a “heavy-set white male entered Vida Fitness ~8am, shot inside (1 killed), kept firing outside incl. parking garage, then barricaded on 7th floor of nearby apt,” fired at officers during a standoff, and may have had a “possible HOA dispute.” He added that police “heard a shot, forced entry & found him with self-inflicted gunshot wound,” citing Carroll’s count of five people shot, one dead. Much of that sequence matches the official account. The claim that the gunman kept firing in a parking garage has not been confirmed by police. A CBS News correspondent reported that it appears the suspect retreated into a parking garage before going up into the apartment building.

A woman who had been on a treadmill inside the gym told reporters the only way out was past a person who had been shot, and called the scene “chaos” and “horrific.”

Editor’s note: The Network transcribed Carroll’s briefing from the clip in Allen’s post and checked later remarks against CBS News, NBC News, the Associated Press, and official police alerts. Federal sources, not Carroll, were the first to say the suspect had been pronounced dead. Police have not released the names of the suspect or the victims. Unconfirmed details are labeled as such. No interviews were conducted for this story.