DC Doctor Kills Gym Manager, Wounds Four in Logan Circle Condo Dispute Shooting
A Washington D.C. doctor shot and killed a building manager at a Logan Circle gym Thursday before wounding four others and fatally shooting himself. Police linked the attack to a longstanding condo dispute over mold damage.
Doctor opens fire at DC gym over condo mold dispute, killing one and wounding four
A 55-year-old Washington, D.C. doctor shot and killed a condominium building manager inside a Logan Circle gym Thursday morning before wounding four others and taking his own life, patch.com reports. The entire sequence of violence lasted under five minutes, according to police.
Interim Police Chief Jeffery Carroll identified the gunman as Matt Lambert, a physician who lived in a seventh-floor penthouse at the Metropole condominium building at 1500 block of 15th Street NW, roughly a mile north of the White House. The victim was named as James Stuart, 46, a manager at the same building.
Lambert shot Stuart inside VIDA Fitness shortly before 8 a.m. as approximately 50 people were exercising, according to gym member James Spellman. "Within seconds there was a man who fell to the ground, and a pool of blood came out," Spellman said. "One gym member rushed to help him."
Anthony Mirones, who was in the cardio area at the time, said he initially mistook the gunfire for something falling off a wall. A fire alarm sounded before gym members fled the scene. "The people in cardio had to step over the body," Mirones said.
Nearby resident Ryan Dubicki said he heard approximately five loud bangs from his apartment, at first attributing them to construction noise, before watching police flood the neighborhood.
Carroll said Lambert subsequently returned to his condominium and fired at four additional people from his patio. One of those victims remained in critical condition Thursday afternoon. Authorities had not publicly identified the four surviving victims as of that afternoon.
Dispute over mold and water damage
Investigators believe the shootings stemmed from a lengthy disagreement between Lambert and the building's management over mold, moisture, and water damage in his unit. Court records show Lambert had filed a lawsuit alleging that exterior construction work had prevented him from fully using his penthouse from 2024 onward. Mediation had been scheduled for March, with the litigation still unresolved at the time of the attack.
"There has been an ongoing dispute between the suspect in this case and building management regarding maintenance issues, mold and the like. We believe it's related to that," Carroll said.
Lambert also appeared to have publicly documented his grievances through an X account called OfMiceandMold, where he posted photographs and an engineering report described online as his "manifesto." Police said he was armed with three guns during the shootings.
Standoff ends in Lambert's death
After the shootings at the gym, Lambert barricaded himself inside his seventh-floor apartment as officers searched the building. Carroll said Lambert fired through his apartment door at officers on at least two separate occasions.
Police negotiators spoke with him by phone for more than an hour. After hearing a gunshot and losing contact, officers forced entry and found Lambert with an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
While barricaded, Lambert also severed a natural gas line connected to his fireplace and started a fire inside the apartment. The building's sprinkler system activated and contained the flames before they spread further.
City-wide emergency response
The shootings triggered a large-scale emergency response in the Logan Circle area, including school lockdowns and street closures. Police subsequently lifted a shelter-in-place order and reopened 14th Street NW in both directions, though investigators remained at the scene through Thursday afternoon.
Mayor Muriel Bowser expressed distress over the incident. "We're devastated. Someone was killed in our city this morning. A senseless act of gun violence," Bowser said, also thanking emergency responders for their rapid reaction.
VIDA Fitness's Logan Circle location was closed following the shooting. Investigators continued examining Lambert's dispute with the condominium association and his relationship to the victims.
The Metropolitan Police Department asked anyone with information to call 202-727-9099.
The Associated Press contributed to the original reporting by patch.com.
Source: Google News GY — Georgetown