Deranged doctor made eerie confession after killing building manager at luxury DC apartment complex in rampage over mold and mice that left four others injured

The doctor who gunned down his building manager at a luxury Washington DC condo made an eerie confession just moments after he committed the massacre.

Dr Matt Lambert, 55, fatally shot James Stuart, 46, in the back inside the Vida Fitness in Logan Circle at around 8am on Thursday. Four others were also left injured.

The gunshots were heard by Charelle Ferguson, a building manager for the Metropole condos, who told the Washington Post she then saw people screaming and running away as one bystander yelled: 'Somebody was shot in the head.'

At that point, Ferguson ushered panicked residents into her office and began calling everyone she knew who lived there – including Lambert, who picked up at around 9am.

She then asked whether he was OK, and the doctor replied that he was tired of the mold and water damage in the unit, which he said rendered it unlivable. 

'The only way people will pay attention, you have to do something,' Ferguson remembered him saying.

He then confessed to shooting five people, including one of her co-workers, Stuart, Ferguson said.

'I couldn't believe what I was hearing,' she said. 'I tried to calm myself down and get as much info from him as I could and keep him on the phone.'

Dr Matt Lambert, 55, gunned down his building manager at a luxury Washington DC condo on Thursday morning over ongoing disputes about the mold in his unit

James Stuart, 46, in the back inside the Vida Fitness in Logan Circle at around 8am. Images Via: James Stuart/Facebook

But Lambert had barricaded himself inside his penthouse apartment at 1515 15th Street, above the gym. 

While inside, he set off the sprinkler system; started a fire; and complained on the phone to a neighbor, another property manager, and police negotiators about his feud with the building.

He also wounded four random people on the ground whom he fired on from his balcony, before eventually turning the gun on himself.

At least one of the injured is in critical condition, while three others suffered non-life-threatening injuries, police said.

Police were eventually able to force themselves into the building, where Lambert reportedly shot at police twice through the door.

Negotiators spoke with him for roughly an hour through his apartment door before they heard a gunshot. 

Once inside, authorities found Lambert with a self-inflicted gunshot wound. 

They also uncovered three guns – a pistol, shotgun and rifle, none of which were registered to Lambert.

It has since been revealed Lambert had a long-running feud with Metropole Condominium Association, which operates the luxury residential tower.

Lambert barricaded himself in an apartment after killing a man at a nearby gym and injuring four others

Local and federal law enforcement officers are pictured responding to the scene on Thursday

The shooting occurred less than a mile from the White House 

He claimed in a lawsuit, and in great detail on his X account, that Metropole and its building contractors, EJF Real Estate Services, caused $290,000 in water damage and resulting mold during facade renovations.

Lambert's last post, at 8.06am while he was believed to be holed up inside his apartment, read: 'My manifesto is an engineering report.'

Attached was a screenshot of part of a report by CED Technologies that agreed with his claims, and what appeared to be a record of reported building issues.

Just one day before the shooting, Lambert also claimed on social media that the saga left him with 'no shower, dryer, HVAC, and cooking' for six months. 

Another chilling post by Lambert predicted his shocking crime on April 28 in response to a complaint by another resident about the hot water not working.

'If you're looking for the building manager, I would check the gym,' he wrote. 

The inside of Lamber's apartment in November 2024, the day he left the apartment and the walls and floors were ripped out to investigate the water damage and mold

The dismantling of the walls in Lambert's apartment in a photo from November 2024 that he posted a day before the shooting

In an interview last December with then-Washington Post reporter Michael Brice-Saddler, Lambert also stressed that the ongoing battle over the mold has 'affected every part of my life - my sleep, dietary habits.'

He then went on to reference Sun Tzu's  Art of War, as the doctor said he goes 'through every emotion every day on this.'

'Do I keep fighting? Do I not fight,' he asked, rhetorically. 'And The Art of War talks about, you know, the battle's won before it's ever fought. It says if you're going to commit, don't half commit, fully commit.' 

The interview came as Lambert sued the homeowner's association over the black mold and other problems at his condo last year.

'They're trying to make me quit,' he told Brice-Saddler, who wrote about the interview for the Washington Sun. 'They're trying to make me go broke.' 

Police are pictured outside the VIDA Fitness gym, where Stuart was killed

National Guard members were seen on the a balcony of nearby building across from where the shooter was barricaded 

The scene around the condo building in Washington DC's Logan Circle neighborhood was roped off following the rampage

Lambert's lawsuit, filed in March 2025, claimed 'suspected water intrusion, mold, significant moisture accumulation, and/or related damage' was a direct result of facade work Metropole began in March 2023.

He claimed that before the work began, his apartment had 'no significant water intrusion, mold, moldy smells, moisture accumulation, or related damage.'

Metropole EJF Real Estate Services both denied causing the damage, claiming it was the fault of third parties beyond their control, and that Lambert should have done more to prevent it himself.

Lambert, as a condo owner, paid Metropole $15,357 as his contribution to the facade work until he began to notice the damage in March 2024, the lawsuit claimed.

He reported the first 'water intrusion' into his apartment, as Metropole had 'actively solicited' from residents when the work started.

It wasn't until August 2024 that Metropole cut a hole in Lambert's drywall to check if there was water running behind the wall.

By the next month, the electric blind under the hole in the drywall had stopped working and a stinking mold grew in the area.

Armed US Marshals officers responded to the scene of the shooting

A police officer is seen talking to residents and witnesses at the scene

However, the lawsuit claimed Metropole denied there was any mold and sought to close the hole and ignore Lambert's complaints.

Lambert then claimed that two independent assessments 'confirmed that substantial moisture continues to accumulate in key areas of the unit, including the cement ceiling, soffit, baseboards, windowsills, and exterior walls'.

He sent a formal request to Metropole to fix the damage in line with recommendations by the assessors, and reimburse him for all costs.

The lawsuit claimed Metropole failed to carry out any of his requests, despite him providing ample photographic evidence.

'[Metropole's] work caused a moisture saturated ceiling, mold-covered external walls, and moisture-saturated floorboards under the windows, corrosion of metal surfaces under the drywall,' the lawsuit claimed.

Bullet holes are pictured in the condo building following the shooting

Police are pictured escorting witnesses and residents back into the building following the rampage on Thursday 

Metropole wrote to Lambert on October 21, 2024, promising to work with him to resolve the issues, but he claimed this never happened.

By November 11, he gave up and hired a contractor to remove the 'moisture saturated' walls and rotted floors.

He claimed this uncovered even more black mold and leaking pipes that were adding to the problem.

The lawsuit went on to claim Metropole made many promises to fix the problems, but had failed to deliver by the time the lawsuit was filed.

'[Lambert's] unit remains deconstructed torn down to the metal frame which bears signs of the water intrusion and elevated moisture in the unit,' it claimed.

He left the unit when the deconstruction began and claimed he wasn't able to return as putting the unit back together would just cause more mold to grow unless Metropole fixed the underlying problems.

Black mold that accumulated in Lambert's apartment

Photo of water damage elsewhere in the apartment building that Lambert posted to his Twitter

The case dragged on for the next year and a half, and Lambert began documenting every problem with the building he could find, along with the slow progress of the facade work. 

Photos he posted included mold, corroded metal, cockroaches and other vermin, water running inside his walls, and notifications from building management about various utility interruptions.

He also complained he was being 'discriminated' against as work was done on other units to fix similar problems, but not his own.

Then on October 1 this year he posted an update on the case.

'After months of 'Luigi' tactics (delay, deny, defend) by the HOA, we were finally able to submit an independent engineering report into the record,' he wrote, referring to the Luigi Mangione murder case.

'The report addresses 704, the facade rehabilitation more broadly, and lists other units affected. When the time is right, I will share the report on X, with other Metropole owners, and with Logan Circle realtors.'

Authorities are continuing to investigate the shooting 

The report was only made public when Lambert posted it moments after he gunned down Stewart and barricaded himself in his 'uninhabitable' unit.

Officials have acknowledged that the suspect had a conflict with his HOA before the shooting. 

'We do know there was a conflict between him and the homeowners association of that building, but at this point we're continuing to look into that,' Metropolitan Police Chief Jeffery Carroll said at a press conference.

But the rampage on Thursday came more than two years and one day after he moved out of his unit so the contractors could dismantle the walls and floors.

What prompted Lambert to go on a shooting spree while the lawsuit was still ongoing is unclear, even to his lawyer Joel Braithwaite.

The attorney said Lambert 'was in a good place' when he spoke to him a day or so before the shooting, and the case had a successful deposition last week.

EJF Real Estate Services President Scott Burka remembered Stuart as a 'respected and beloved member of our team'

Lambert got his medical degree from Marshall University and trained in emergency medicine before a series of private sector chief medical officer jobs.

He was also the chief medical information officer for New York City Health and Hospitals, and was set to start a new job next week.

As authorities now work to determine what may have prompted the well-off doctor to open fire, EJF Real Estate Services released a statement saying it was 'devastated' by Stuart's death and denouncing the shooting as a 'senseless act of violence.'

'Jimmy was more than a colleague; he was a part of the fabric of this company,' President Scott Burka said, noting that he joined the company 13 years ago as a property manager.

'He was a respected and beloved member of our team,' Burka said. 'Our hearts are with his family and everyone who loved him. We will honor Jimmy by caring for one another, friends and family.'

He added that the company is cooperating with authorities in their investigation.