Gunman Kills Gym Member and Wounds Four in D.C. Shooting Rampage

A deadly shooting spree shattered the morning calm in Washington’s Logan Circle on Thursday, leaving one gym member dead, four people wounded, and the gunman dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Emergency dispatchers received the first call for help at 8 a.m. From inside VIDA Fitness, a gym situated along 15th Street Northwest about one mile north of the White House. Emergency responders arrived within 30 seconds of the call, according to Jeffery W. Carroll, interim Police Chief of the Metropolitan Police Department. Inside the gym, officers located an adult male who had been shot. NPR editor Tinbete Ermyas was working out at the facility when the violence erupted. He recalled hearing “a very loud bang” that startled everyone on the workout floor. “People kind of looked around at each other … Wondering what it was. Some people thought that maybe it was some weights that had been dropped. But it just sounded way too loud,” Ermyas said, adding that “The bang sort of shook everybody.”

Realizing a gunman was active, Ermyas and several others fled through an emergency exit into a laundry room, where they sheltered for approximately 20 minutes before police safely escorted them outside. As they left, they saw the victim’s body lying in a pool of blood near the facility.

Gunman Barricades Inside Apartment Building

The shooting quickly spread outside the fitness center. Chief Carroll said the gunman shot one victim inside the gym and wounded a second person in the building’s lobby or alleyway. He then crossed 15th Street Northwest, shooting three more people at a nearby construction site. One victim remains in critical condition. Following the shootings, the suspect—identified by police as a white male and believed to be a gym member—entered a nearby apartment building and barricaded himself. Investigators noted that the suspect had an ongoing conflict with the building’s homeowners association. Inside the apartment complex, a fire broke out and triggered the building’s sprinkler system. Police believe the fire was intentionally set, but firefighters contained and extinguished the blaze. Oscar Vazquez, manager of the neighboring Call Your Mother Deli, initially thought the alarm was a routine emergency until gunshots rang out. Deli worker Cesar Miranda, 22, said he heard seven or eight shots before panicked bystanders surged down the sidewalk, some falling into patio chairs outside the shop.

Standoff Ends After Gunshot Heard

Heavy law enforcement, including FBI agents and SWAT units, flooded the neighborhood, placing the surrounding block under a shelter-in-place order. Negotiators spent roughly an hour attempting to persuade the gunman to surrender safely. However, officers engaging the suspect heard a single gunshot from inside the barricaded area. Chief Carroll initially briefed reporters Thursday morning that the gunman had shot himself. A police spokeswoman later confirmed that the shooter died from his injuries. Police lifted the neighborhood shelter-in-place order at around 11:30 a.m. Chief Carroll stated that investigators are still working to determine whether the gunman knew any of his victims.