One dead, four injured after gunman opens fire in Washington, DC
Washington: The Australian embassy in Washington was in lockdown on Thursday (US time) after a gunman allegedly killed a man at a nearby gym and shot four others before barricading himself in his apartment and eventually taking his own life.
The shooting took place at about 8am in and around Vida Fitness in the trendy Logan Circle neighbourhood, just north of the city centre.
After shooting the man inside the gym with a handgun, the suspect returned to his seventh-floor apartment. He then opened fire from his balcony with a rifle, striking four people, Jeffery Carroll, the interim chief of DC Metro police, said.
At one point, a small fire broke out in the building and was contained.
Carroll said the man later shot himself during negotiations and died from his injuries.
The suspect was later identified by US media outlets as Matt Lambert, a 55-year-old doctor, who had been in a dispute with property managers about mould and moisture problems in his unit.
“There has been an ongoing dispute between the suspect in this case” and management “regarding maintenance issues, mould and the like. We believe it’s related to that,” Carroll said.
Police identified the dead man as James Stuart, 46, the manager of the building, and said he appeared to have been deliberately targeted.
An X account appearing to belong to Lambert, named “Of Mice and Mold”, had been posting regularly about conditions in the penthouse apartment.
“Two years of living in luxury (and the start of six months with no shower, dryer, HVAC and cooking),” he posted on Wednesday.
On Thursday, around the time of the shooting, he posted: “My manifesto is an engineering report.” It included a link to a document detailing problems with the unit.
Much of the block around the shooting site was cordoned off by police tape on Thursday morning (US time). Schools near the scene went into lockdown.
Staff at the nearby Australian embassy on 16th Street were also ordered to shelter in place. The lockdown was later lifted.
DC Mayor Muriel Bowser said the White House had been briefed. The shootings occurred about 1.5 kilometres north of the White House.
James Spellman was at the gym a little after 8am when he heard shots being fired. He said there were about 50 people in the gym at the time.
“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.”
Spellman said he and other gym members ran out of the gym and he heard more gunfire in the area of 15th Street. He said he heard about two shots fired in the gym and about five or six fired outside.
Witness Ryan Dubicki was in his nearby apartment around 8am when he “heard about five bangs”.
“They were really spread out, so I thought it was construction,” he said. It was only a short time later that he looked out “and there were cops everywhere”.
Vida Fitness emailed members to say the Logan Circle location was closed until further notice.
“Our thoughts are with everyone affected by this incident. We understand that this news may be deeply concerning to our VIDA community,” the gym said.
With AP, Reuters
Support is available from Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636 and Lifeline on 13 11 14.
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