DC Gym Shooting Leaves 1 Dead, 4 Wounded as Suspect Dies by Suicide

WASHINGTON — A gunman killed a man inside a gym Thursday morning, then fled and shot four additional people, creating panic in a popular neighborhood a short distance from the White House, police said.

The suspect later shot himself inside a nearby seventh-floor apartment while speaking by phone with police negotiators, said Jeffery Carroll, interim chief of the Metropolitan Police Department.

Mayor Muriel Bowser said she was “devastated” by the loss of life in what she called a “senseless act of gun violence.”

The shooting began around 8 a.m. in Logan Circle, roughly a mile (1.6 kilometers) north of the White House. Police closed much of the 15th Street Northwest block and urged residents and visitors to stay away. The area includes a VIDA Fitness center, St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, homes and a Whole Foods supermarket. Nearby schools were placed on lockdown.

SWAT officers and other law enforcement personnel stood with their weapons drawn on the roof of an apartment building and on the street below.

Carroll said one man died at the gym and another victim remained in critical condition.

A law enforcement official confirmed that the suspect died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. The official was not authorized to discuss the continuing investigation publicly and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.

James Spellman, who was inside the gym, said about 50 people were there when the shooting started.

“Within seconds there was a man who fell to the ground, and a pool of blood came out,” he said. “One gym member rushed to help him. He was instantly dead. He had been shot in the neck.”

Anthony Mirones was working out in the gym’s cardio area when he heard a loud bang. At first, he thought something had fallen from the wall. He said someone tried to help the wounded man, but a fire alarm soon sounded and many people fled.

“The people in cardio had to step over the body,” Mirones said.

Ryan Dubicki, another witness, said he was in his nearby apartment when he “heard about five bangs.”

“They were really spread out, so I thought it was construction,” said Dubicki, an AP employee on the elections team. A short time later, he said, “there were cops everywhere.”

The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives sent agents to the scene to assist. The FBI also said its Washington field office was supporting local police in the investigation.

Logan Circle has experienced violence in the past. In early August 2025, authorities said, a former member of President Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency was assaulted in the neighborhood early one Sunday by a group of teenagers who attempted to carjack him and a woman.

Several days later, Trump carried out his threat to bypass local officials and impose direct federal control over the city, deploying hundreds of National Guard members to address crime. The deployment remains in place.

Associated Press writers Rebecca Santana and Gary Fields contributed to this report.