A doctor allegedly opened fire inside a D.C. gym, killing one man and wounding four others before police found what set him off

A man police identified as an emergency room physician opened fire inside a VIDA Fitness gym in Washington on Thursday morning, killing a building manager before wounding four more people, according to NBC. The Washington gym shooting took place in the Logan Circle neighborhood, roughly a mile north of the White House, near 15th and P Streets Northwest.

Police named the man who was killed as James Stuart, 46, the building manager, and identified the gunman as Matthew Lambert, 55, a doctor who lived in a unit above the gym. Councilmember Brooke Pinto confirmed those details around 8:30 a.m., as officers were still working the scene and residents were looking for information about what had happened.

Police and court records indicate that Lambert was in a conflict with the condo building’s association and was suing over the condition of his unit. However, investigators have not publicly confirmed how that dispute connects to the Washington gym shooting, and further details are expected as detectives and federal agents continue their work at the building and speak with witnesses.

Police say the gunman kept shooting from a balcony after the gym attack

According to police, the Washington gym shooting began when Stuart was killed inside the gym. However, the gunman did not stop there, and four more people were shot from a balcony above the street. Two men and two women were wounded, and one of them was in critical condition, according to the latest information available from police.

Lambert then barricaded himself and fired at responding officers, police said, before dying of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. The police chief told reporters that officers reached the scene in under a minute after the first calls, and agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were sent to help local detectives with the investigation.

Nearby schools were placed on lockdown, and residents on the 1500 block of 15th Street were told to shelter in place while the response continued. One gym member who was on a treadmill when the gunfire began described the scene as “horrific.” The Washington gym shooting disrupted a residential area where apartment buildings and small businesses share the same blocks.

Lambert worked as an emergency room physician, according to police. However, no connection between that work and the attack has been reported so far. As court records show a lawsuit over his condo, investigators are likely to examine the building dispute closely, though police have not said where that inquiry could lead at this stage.

Housing disputes have turned violent in other communities, as seen in a Missouri noise complaint that ended in three deaths. In the Washington gym shooting, police said the gunman lived in the same building as the gym where the building manager was killed, and the conflict reportedly centered on the condo association and the condition of his unit.

Several questions remained open in early coverage of the Washington gym shooting, including the conditions of the four wounded people beyond the critical injury, the exact sequence between the gunfire in the gym and the shots from the balcony, and how far the building dispute had progressed before Thursday morning.

Police have not said when the investigation could conclude. Additional details about the wounded, the building dispute and the minutes before the first shots are likely to emerge as investigators interview witnesses and review evidence from the gym and the unit above it.