Gunman Kills 1, Wounds 4 at a Washington Gym a Mile From the White House
Police say the shooter, believed to be a member of VIDA Fitness in Logan Circle, barricaded himself in a nearby apartment building and died of a self-inflicted gunshot after an hour-long standoff.
A gunman opened fire at a fitness club in Washington, D.C.'s Logan Circle neighborhood on Thursday morning, killing at least one person and wounding at least four others before barricading himself in a nearby apartment building, where he later died, police said. The shooting at VIDA Fitness sent crowds running for cover about a mile north of the White House.
The first call for help came in at 8 a.m. from people inside the gym, Jeffery W. Carroll, the interim chief of the Metropolitan Police Department, told reporters at a briefing. Officers and other emergency responders were on scene within 30 seconds, he said, and found one adult man who had been shot inside the gym. It was unclear whether the four other people hurt had been at the gym when the gunfire started.
The gunman left the gym area and went into a neighboring apartment building on 15th Street Northwest, where he barricaded himself. Police spent about an hour trying to persuade him to surrender safely. Carroll said that while officers were engaging with the suspect, they heard a single gunshot. He said at the briefing that the shooter had shot himself, and a police spokeswoman later confirmed to NPR that the gunman had died. NPR corrected an earlier version of its report that had said Carroll announced the suspect's death at the briefing.
Carroll said he believes the gunman was a member of the gym. Witnesses told NPR that VIDA requires visitors to tap in to reach the fitness area. It was not clear whether the gunman and the victims knew each other, and Carroll said more investigation was needed. Police did not immediately release the identities of the dead or wounded or any motive.
Tinbete Ermyas, an NPR editor, was working out when the shooting began. He said gym-goers heard "a very loud bang" and at first thought someone had dropped weights, but the sound was far too loud. "The bang sort of shook everybody," he said. Screams followed, and he and others ran off the gym floor through an emergency exit to a laundry room, where they hid for about 20 minutes until police escorted them out. On the way, he said, he saw the body of the man who had been shot. "A guy that goes to the gym regularly. I see him every morning, just lying in a pool of blood. It was terrible."
Residents described a massive law enforcement presence within minutes, including FBI agents and SWAT teams. People in the area received emergency text messages ordering them to stay sheltered in place, and that order was lifted at around 11:30 a.m. The block is lined with apartment buildings, a church, coffee shops and restaurants, and morning crowds were out when the shooting began.
At Call Your Mother Deli, next to the gym, manager Oscar Vazquez said he heard the fire alarm going off next door. His co-worker Cesar Miranda, 22, said they assumed it was a routine alarm until they heard seven or eight gunshots. Vazquez said people began running out of the building and he tried to pull as many as possible into the deli. "We're really worried about the people that live in the building," he said, noting that many of his friends and customers live there.
Miranda said police arrived quickly and that the people fleeing were badly shaken. "They were so shocked and afraid," he said, adding that some collapsed into chairs on the deli's patio. Investigators are still working to establish what led to the attack and to account for everyone who was hurt.
