Gunman Kills One, Wounds Four at Logan Circle Gym

A gunman opened fire in a Logan Circle gym just before 8 a.m. Thursday, killing one person and wounding four, police said.

Interim Police Chief Jeffery Carroll said the man shot victims inside the gym, outside it and in a garage elevator, then barricaded in a seventh-floor apartment. Officers found him with a self-inflicted gunshot wound after an hour of negotiation.

The shooting began inside the VIDA Fitness in the 1500 block of 15th Street NW, about a mile north of the White House, with roughly 50 people in the gym. Officers were on scene within 30 seconds, Carroll said. One person was killed inside the gym. Fire and EMS Chief John Donnelly said four people were taken to hospitals: one in critical condition and three with non-life-threatening injuries. Other victims included a construction crew across the street and a person in the lobby or alley outside. Police haven't named any of the victims or the hospitals treating them.

From the gym the man fired outside, and officials believe he shot another person in a parking-garage elevator before retreating to a seventh-floor apartment in the same building. Negotiators talked with him for about an hour while he fired through the door at police at least twice. Officers then heard a gunshot, lost contact, and breached the apartment. Carroll said they found him with a self-inflicted gunshot wound; a law-enforcement official confirmed to the Associated Press that he was dead. There's no suspect at large, and the morning's lookout for a heavy-set white man in gray clothing is resolved.

Police believe the man was a member of the gym. They know his identity and haven't released it. Carroll said investigators are aware he'd had a conflict with the building's homeowners association and are continuing to look into it, and that police haven't determined whether he had any relationship with the victims. Carroll told reporters the suspect lived in the apartment building.

"We're devastated," Mayor Muriel Bowser said. "Someone was killed in our city this morning. A senseless act of gun violence." The FBI and the ATF are assisting, the White House was briefed, and the scene was declared safe late in the morning: the shelter-in-place order lifted, schools got the all-clear at 11:15 a.m., and the gym is closed until further notice. Police ask anyone with information to call 202-727-9099.

The response closed the neighborhood for hours. MPD's Emergency Response Team worked the barricade while the Secret Service, the U.S. Marshals, Park Police, Transit Police and the National Guard joined city officers on scene, and traffic stayed shut around the cordoned 1500 block of 15th Street NW well after the all-clear. The gym sits in a dense residential stretch of Logan Circle, about a mile north of the White House.

Update, 12:20 p.m. ET — A fire broke out inside the residential building during the standoff, Carroll said. It set off alarms and sprinklers, and it's been put out. Police haven't said who started it.

Update, 12:20 p.m. ET — Carroll told reporters the suspect lived in the apartment building above the gym. The seventh-floor unit where he barricaded himself is the one officers believed was his.

Update, 12:20 p.m. ET — VIDA Fitness said its Logan Circle location "will remain closed until further notice." The company called the shooting "deeply concerning to our VIDA community" and said the safety of its members, guests and team is its highest priority.