Dr. Matt Wade Lambert fatally shot a building manager and wounded four other people at a Washington, D.C., gym on Thursday before taking his own life during a standoff with police.
The morning attack in the Logan Circle neighborhood drew a rapid police response just a mile from the White House, closing nearby businesses and displacing residents of the Metropole condominium building. Interim Police Chief Jeffery Carroll said officers arrived at the scene within 30 seconds of the initial emergency call. Responding forces on site included Homeland Security, the National Guard, special police, Metro Transit Police, and the fire department.
Shooting Inside the Logan Circle Gym
The shooting in Logan Circle this morning is horrifying. A life was lost in this unthinkable tragedy and I’m sending my sincere condolences to all the victims, their families, and DC residents living through this fear.
The violence began shortly before 8 a.m. inside the VIDA Fitness gym located in the 1500 block of 15th Street Northwest, beneath the Metropole condominium building where Lambert lived on the seventh floor. James Stewart, a 46-year-old building manager from Northwest D.C. and the fifth victim, sustained fatal gunshot wounds within the gym and was pronounced dead right there. VIDA Fitness announced it will remain closed “until further notice.”
“Within seconds there was a man who fell to the ground, and a pool of blood came out,” gym witness James Spellman told The Associated Press, as reported by NBC10 Philadelphia.
After shooting Stuart, Lambert went to his penthouse unit and fired on people, according to NBC4 Washington. Four other people suffered gunshot wounds during the attack.
Investigators tied the rampage to an ongoing civil dispute between Lambert and the building homeowners association management over maintenance issues and black mold, as reported by Fox News. Court records show Lambert filed a lawsuit in March 2025 alleging that exterior facade repairs conducted by the association in 2024 caused severe water intrusion and mold in his seventh-floor home.
Michael Brice-Saddler (@TheArtist_MBS), a prize-winning reporter for the @washingtonpost, talked repeatedly with today's shooter for a story — but then got laid off before he could write it. Now at the @washingtonsun he tells the story he couldn't before. https://t.co/0PqQjLRtvm
The property manager, EJF Real Estate Services Inc., and the Metropole Condo Association were involved in legal battles with 55-year-old Lambert. He bought the 1,200-square-foot home for $1.095 million in 2016. Court records show that Lambert paid a sum of $15,356.95 toward the association’s special assessment for building envelope remediation between May 2023 and April 2024.
Lambert Incurs High Legal Costs
Lambert stated in court documents that he incurred expenses exceeding $82,000 due to the unresolved damage and litigation. His attorney, Joel Braithwaite, said that legal fees and property maintenance had cost his client, according to The Guardian.
“I can’t tell you how surprised I am because the person I knew as a client is someone who is in the business of healing people,” Braithwaite told reporters.
Following the shooting, Lambert barricaded himself inside his penthouse apartment as tactical units surrounded the building. Chief Carroll said during a press briefing that Lambert severed a natural gas line to a fireplace and ignited a fire inside the unit, triggering the building’s sprinkler system, according to Fox News. “gunshots rang out on the seventh floor” while clearing an apartment building on the block, Interim Police Chief Jeffery Carroll said.
Our Department offers sympathy for the victims and witnesses impacted by the shooting in the Logan Circle neighborhood of Washington, D. C. this morning. Resources and support for victims and witnesses can be found at @OJPgov's Office for Victims of Crime's link below. Also…
Police Negotiators Attempt to Communicate with Lambert
Police negotiators attempted to communicate with Lambert for more than an hour before hearing a gunshot from inside the unit, as reported by FOX 5 DC. Tactical officers forced entry and found Lambert dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Police recovered three firearms from inside his apartment.
Mayor Muriel Bowser condemned the attack as a senseless act of gun violence, according to The Guardian. Ward 2 Councilmember Brooke Pinto told 7News that area residents opened their homes to Metropole tenants displaced by the police investigation.
Shootings at and outside Vida fitness this morning in Logan Circle. Multiple people shot. Do not go to this area. Police looking for suspect.
About 50 community members gathered in Logan Circle on November 12 for an evening candlelight vigil to honor the victims and support those affected by the tragedy, according to FOX 5 DC.
“devastated by the tragic loss of life” were the words of Vida Fitness's owner David von Storch and its president, Aaron Moore, in a joint statement, according to the branch's members.
LIVE: Mayor Bowser and MPD Provide Update on Shooting at 15th and P St NW in Washington, DC https://t.co/DLqglhvrCK
More on Matt Wade Lambert
Obsessing over his condo building's problems, the D. C. Logan Circle shooter made a dark offhand reference to Luigi Mangione last year. @TheArtist_MBS happened to be interviewing him at the time. Remarkable stuff: https://t.co/iRtgfVbZeI
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