Editorial note — Updated: This follow-up report adds police confirmation that the barricaded suspect shot himself and died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, the confirmed conditions of the surviving victims, and a police-described conflict between the suspect and his building’s homeowners association. Virginia Times published its first report on the shooting earlier Thursday morning.
WASHINGTON — The man who barricaded himself after the Logan Circle shooting shot himself while police negotiators were speaking with him by phone and died of the wound, Metropolitan Police Department Interim Chief Jeffery Carroll said Thursday.
Negotiators had talked with the suspect for more than an hour. Then, during a phone conversation, they heard a gunshot, and he stopped responding, Carroll said. Officers forced their way into the apartment and found him with an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, and Carroll said the man died. Police had not publicly identified him.
Before that, Carroll said, the suspect fired through the door at officers at least twice while he was barricaded inside a seventh-floor apartment that police believed was his.
One person was killed inside the VIDA Fitness gym. Four other people were taken to hospitals. One of them is in critical condition, and the other three have injuries that are not considered life-threatening, Carroll said.
Where each person was shot is still being worked out. Carroll said some of the victims had been working at a construction site across the street, and police also received a report of another victim in a lobby or alley area. A law enforcement official told The Associated Press that authorities believe the suspect shot at least one person inside the gym before going outside and firing again, and that he shot another person in a parking garage elevator before barricading himself on the seventh floor.
Carroll said a motive had not been established, and police had not determined whether the suspect had any relationship with the victims. He said investigators believe the suspect was a member of the gym and lived in the building where he later barricaded himself, and that he had a handgun at some point during the incident.
“We do know there was a conflict between him and the homeowners association of that building,” Carroll said. “But at this point, we’re continuing to look into that.”
A fire also broke out inside the residential building during the response, setting off alarms and sprinklers, Carroll said. The fire was put out, but authorities had not confirmed who started it.
Officers arrived within 30 seconds of being dispatched to a report of a shooting inside the gym, Carroll said, and further calls then reported gunfire and other victims. Mayor Muriel Bowser said the White House had been briefed. Police were still urging people to avoid the area at the briefing, and they asked anyone who witnessed the shootings or fled the area to contact police at 202-727-9099.
Also Read: One Killed, Five Shot at Logan Circle Gym; Suspect Barricaded in Same Building