One person was killed and four others were injured in a shooting near Logan Circle, a trendy Washington, D.C., neighborhood within walking distance of the White House, police said. The suspected gunman later shot himself as a swarm of officers responded to a nearby apartment building where he was barricaded.
The suspect, described as a white male, was found suffering from a “self-inflicted” gunshot wound on the seventh floor of a residential building near the fitness center where the initial shooting occurred, Jeffrey Carroll, interim chief with the Metropolitan Police Department, said at a news conference Thursday.
Carroll described the shooter as “contained,” but moments after the news conference ended, two federal law enforcement sources and a law enforcement official confirmed to NBC News that the suspect was pronounced dead.
The gunman entered Vida Fitness at around 8 a.m. Thursday and shot a gym member in the back and then ran out of the building, according to a person familiar with the matter, NBC News reports. The gym was then evacuated and shots were fired on the street before people scattered, according to the person.
Carroll confirmed one person died at the gym and four others were injured in the area of 15th and P Streets NW.
The four people who were injured were taken to hospitals in varying conditions. Carroll said one of the victims was in critical condition and the other three had non-life threatening wounds.
The identity of the person who died is not yet known.
Asked about a motive, Carroll told reporters that while they are in the early stages of the investigation, they know the suspect had “some sort of conflict” with the homeowners association of the building.
“At this point we’re continuing to look into that,” he added.
Witness James Spellman, who was at the gym, said there were about 50 people there around 8 a.m. when the shooting began.
“Within seconds there was a man who fell to the ground, and a pool of blood came out,” Spellman told The Associated Press. “One gym member rushed to help him. He was instantly dead. He had been shot in the neck.”
Jennifer Christy was also at the gym on the treadmill when she heard gunshots and initially thought a machine malfunctioned. She said she saw the victim laying on the floor as she evacuated the building.
“It was actually horrific, I’m not sure the status of the guy but he had been shot and there was no way of getting out of the gym other than going past the scene,” Christy said in an interview with NBC Washington.
Jennifer Christy was on the treadmill at VIDA Logan Circle when she heard gunshots, thinking at first that a gym machine was malfunctioning.
She said as she stopped to talk to an officer outside they heard more gunshots, “and there was definitely gunpowder, and smoke.”
Several people took shelter at a nearby deli. Oscar Vasquez, a manager at the nearby Call Your Mother location, said the fire alarms in the building went off, and when everyone in the deli went outside they heard the shooting.
“We heard really loud, aggressive gunshots. Not like pistols or anything,” Vasquez told NBC Washington. “We saw people running in.
Vida Fitness posted a message on social media informing members that its Logan Circle location would remain closed until further notice.
“The safety and well-being of our members, guests, and team are our highest priorities. We ask that you avoid traveling to the Logan Circle location and surrounding area until further notice. If you are currently in the vicinity, please follow all instructions from local law enforcement,” the post said.
Police urged people to avoid the area of the 1500 block of 15th Street, which includes the VIDA fitness center, St. Luke’s Episcopal Church and residences and is around the corner from a Whole Foods supermarket. Much of the block was cordoned off. Schools near the scene were placed on lockdown.
Streets around the area also were blocked off during a massive police response. The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said it sent agents to the scene to help.
In early August 2025, a onetime member of President Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency was assaulted early on a Sunday morning in the Logan Circle neighborhood by a group of teenagers attempting to carjack him and a woman, authorities said.
Days later, Trump fulfilled his threat to bypass local authority and imposed direct federal control over the city, sending in hundreds of National Guard members to reduce crime. That deployment continues today.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.