Logan Circle Shooting: One Killed, Four Wounded as a Gunman Opens Fire at a DC Gym, Then Barricades Himself a Mile From the White House
One man was killed and four people were wounded Thursday morning when a gunman opened fire inside a gym in Washington's Logan Circle neighborhood, then barricaded himself in the apartment building above it - a standoff that ended, after about an hour of negotiation, with police forcing their way in and finding him with a self-inflicted gunshot wound, police said.
One person was killed and four others were shot and wounded when a gunman opened fire inside a gym in Washington, DC, on Thursday morning before barricading himself inside an apartment building, police said, in Reuters' updated wire report. The shooting began just before 8 a.m. ET in the Logan Circle neighborhood, about a mile (1.6 km) northeast of the White House, and officers arrived within 30 seconds and discovered an adult male shot, Metropolitan Police Interim Chief JW Carroll told reporters.
The suspect holed up inside a seventh-floor unit, where police negotiators were able to open a dialogue, Carroll said. After about an hour, police heard a gunshot and forced their way into the apartment, where they found the suspect with a self-inflicted gunshot wound. His condition was not immediately clear in the chief's briefing, but NBC and Fox News reported he had died, citing unnamed law enforcement sources, Reuters reported, and DC Councilmember Brooke Pinto confirmed the gunman was dead in live updates carried by JAM Radio News. Carroll said police believe the suspect lived in the apartment and was a member of the gym where the attack began, that he fired through the door at officers at least twice during the standoff, and that a handgun was recovered; a fire set inside the building was contained after it set off the sprinklers.
The man shot inside the Vida Fitness gym on 15th Street NW was pronounced dead at the scene, police said in the live updates. One of the four wounded people is in critical condition and three have injuries that do not appear life-threatening; Carroll said some of the wounded were members of a construction crew working across the street, and one was in the lobby or alley outside the gym. Police did not identify either the suspect or the deceased victim. Investigators are working to determine a motive, Carroll said; police noted the gunman had been in a conflict with his apartment building's homeowners association, but no motive has been established. Mayor Muriel Bowser said she was "devastated" by what she called a "senseless act of gun violence," the updates reported.
The shooting drew a massive police response, with large numbers of officers in tactical gear flooding the area around 15th and P Streets NW, and the FBI and ATF assisting local officers. Police issued a shelter-in-place order for the 1500 block of 15th Street NW and asked people to avoid the area, while DC public schools in the area were placed on alert status - nine to eleven schools by the differing local counts, the exact figure unconfirmed - and Vida Fitness said its Logan Circle gym is closed until further notice. The story led the U.S. conversation Thursday: on the TrendingSoup X Trends snapshot read this run, "Logan Circle" stood at No. 2 and "VIDA Fitness" at No. 4 in the United States. The Washington Bureau (SCH-090) will file updates as police release names and a motive.
