Washington, D.C., police identified the gunman who killed his building manager and wounded four others Thursday morning, roughly a mile from the White House. The shooting unfolded as the suspect was involved in a continuing legal dispute with his condominium association over building maintenance and mold.
The suspect, Dr. Matt Wade Lambert, 55, of Northwest Washington, was found dead inside his apartment after a standoff with police, Metropolitan Police Department Interim Chief Jeffery W. Carroll said.
Two men and two women were wounded in the shooting, which occurred at several locations. One of the injured victims remained in critical condition.
The fifth victim, building manager James Stewart, 46, of Northwest D.C., was shot inside the gym and pronounced dead at the scene.
Dr. Matt Lambert, the gunman identified by police, is shown in an undated photograph. (BusinessWire)
The shooting began shortly before 8 a.m. inside the Vita Fitness gym, a local chain with a location in Logan Circle.
Police said Lambert used a handgun to open fire inside the gym, killing Stewart, who managed the building.
Authorities said Lambert then left the gym and went to his two-story, seventh-floor apartment in the same building. From a private elevated patio overlooking 15th Street, Church Street and a rear alley, he fired a rifle toward the street, hitting four pedestrians.
As officers approached the seventh floor, Lambert fired through his apartment door twice. No officers were injured.
Metropolitan Police Department Interim Chief Jeff Carroll provides an update on Thursday’s deadly Logan Circle shooting. (Pool/Fox News)
During the ensuing standoff, Carroll said, Lambert deliberately cut a natural gas line connected to a fireplace. He also had gasoline and other flammable liquids inside the apartment and started a fire, with flames visible from outside the building.
The building’s sprinkler system activated as D.C. Fire and EMS crews entered the property and shut off the main gas line to avert a possible explosion.
Negotiators eventually reached Lambert by phone. However, while talks were underway, officers heard one gunshot and lost contact with him. Tactical officers breached the apartment and found Lambert dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Carroll said the violence appeared connected to a long-running conflict involving Lambert, the condominium homeowners association and building management over maintenance concerns and mold. Lambert had previously filed a civil lawsuit in connection with the dispute.
District tax records show Lambert bought the condo in September 2016 for $1,095,000.
According to MPD negotiators, Lambert spent much of the barricade situation discussing his complaints against the homeowners association.
Investigators found three firearms in the apartment—a handgun, a rifle and a shotgun—and said each weapon had been fired.
Carroll said Lambert did not have any firearms registered in Washington, D.C. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is helping determine where the weapons came from.
The reports of an active shooter and barricaded suspect triggered a large, coordinated emergency response. Agencies involved included MPD’s Special Operations and Emergency Response teams, D.C. Fire and EMS, the ATF, the U.S. Marshals Service, U.S. Park Police and Metro Transit Police.
A National Guard member stands in Washington, D.C., after a gunman opened fire at a gym on Thursday, November 12. (Brooke Curto for News Outlet)
Hector, a D.C. resident and witness, said he was walking from his office near 15th and P streets to a Starbucks when he heard what sounded like gunfire.
“I heard three loud bangs—maybe two or three,” Hector said.
He looked up and saw people wearing gym clothes running east toward 14th Street. As he continued toward Starbucks, additional people rushed past him.
Once inside the coffee shop, officers instructed everyone to remain indoors and lock the doors, Hector said. He stayed there with employees and other customers for about three hours. He later learned that a woman inside the building had witnessed the gunman. She was moved to the kitchen for safety and appeared “a little traumatized,” he said.
Hector said he had worked in the area for nearly eight years and had never witnessed anything similar. “It’s generally a very safe neighborhood,” he said. “This felt completely random. It’s not something you hear or see happen regularly.”
D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, who appeared with Carroll at an earlier news conference, called the shooting a “senseless act of gun violence.”
“We are devastated that someone was killed in our city this morning,” Bowser told reporters. She said many residents woke to frightening news and followed police instructions, thanking them for their cooperation as the investigation continued.
Vida Fitness said its Logan Circle location would remain closed until further notice.
“VIDA Logan Circle is temporarily closed following a shooting earlier today,” company President Aaron Moore said in a message to members. He added that the gym would provide updates when more information became available and it was safe and appropriate to do so, thanking members for their understanding during the difficult period.
