Locked in Court, Gunman Killed One, Wounded Five in DC

A 55-year-old emergency room physician shot six people, one fatally, in Washington's Logan Circle neighborhood Thursday morning before dying of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, D.C. police said. The dead man was 46-year-old James Stuart, the building's manager. He was pronounced dead inside the VIDA Fitness gym.

The gunman, identified by police as Matt Lambert, also given as Matt Wade Lambert, lived in the apartment building connected to VIDA Fitness. Court records show he'd been fighting his condominium association over alleged leaks and mold, and he filed a lawsuit against the group in March 2025. Months later, he told a reporter he'd spent nearly $200,000 on legal and engineering fees. Shortly after the shooting, Lambert told a different building manager he was frustrated with mold and water damage in his unit that he said had rendered it unlivable.

Who Gets Crushed

Six people were hit. Officers from D.C. police's Second District arrived just before 8 a.m. and found six victims in the vicinity, all with gunshot wounds, police said. Three women and two men, all conscious and breathing, were taken to local hospitals. One suffered serious injuries, and CNN reported one victim remains in critical condition. On Friday, police said an additional victim, an adult female with a nonfatal injury, brought the total to six.

After shooting Stuart, Lambert went into the building and shot four more people with a rifle from his seventh-floor balcony, authorities told CNN. Police said they were unaware of any relationships between Lambert and his other victims, and haven't determined whether he knew the four surviving victims or targeted them. Interim police chief Jeffery W. Carroll said the shootings likely unfolded in less than five minutes.

Police believe the shooting was linked to the dispute over maintenance, including mold. A man spent nearly two hundred grand on lawyers and engineers over a leaking, moldy home. The grievance sat in the court system for more than a year and eight months, from March 2025 until the shooting. It never got resolved. Six people were shot instead.

What They're Calling "Order"

The response shut down streets, sent nearly a dozen schools into lockdown and forced residents to shelter in place. MPD, D.C. Fire and EMS, U.S. Park Police, Metro Transit Police and other federal law enforcement agencies all took part. Asked whether the show of force was due to the shooting's proximity to the White House, roughly a mile away, Carroll said it was because police were responding to an active shooter. "The expectation is folks will go there to try to stop the loss of life," he said. Mayor Bowser confirmed the White House had been briefed.

Lambert barricaded himself in his apartment, broke a gas line connected to his fireplace and started a fire. Sprinklers helped contain the blaze. Police negotiators heard a gunshot while speaking with Lambert by phone. Officers forced entry and found him with a self-inflicted wound. He later died. Investigators recovered a handgun, shotgun and rifle from his apartment. Carroll said the suspect used all three firearms, none of which were registered in D.C.

Who Claims the Credit

President Trump has surged federal law enforcement in D.C. through his Safe and Beautiful Task Force. In a speech before the midterms last week, Trump declared D.C. "one of the safest cities in the country." Asked Thursday about Trump's role in reducing crime, Bowser pushed back: "I praise MPD for bringing down crime in the city, and I praise our prosecutors." The politicians were still arguing over who owned the crime statistics while the street outside VIDA was taped off.

What People Actually Did

Neighbors didn't wait for a press release. Councilmember Brooke Pinto held a vigil. People left flowers and notes outside VIDA. "Logan Circle is still a place for love," read one. "VIDA, you are and will continue to be a safe haven for many," read another. The Washington Post described a candlelight vigil where people embraced, cried and lit tealights.

By evening, the streets around VIDA Fitness were quiet. Several nearby businesses remained closed, with police tape blocking off storefronts and officers standing watch.