Editorial note — Updated: This follow-up report adds police confirmation that five people were shot in the Logan Circle shooting and that one victim died, and that the suspect was barricaded in an apartment in the same building. Virginia Times published its first report on the shooting earlier Thursday morning.
WASHINGTON — The man police say shot five people at and near a Logan Circle gym on Thursday, killing one victim, was barricaded in an apartment in the same building late Thursday morning as officers worked to take him into custody, D.C. police said at a morning news conference covered by The Washington Sun.
Another victim was critically injured, police said. Officers believe the suspect was a member of the VIDA Fitness gym at 15th and P Streets Northwest, where the shooting was reported around 8 a.m.
In an update, the Metropolitan Police Department said the shooting had led to a barricade situation in the 1500 block of 15th Street Northwest and asked people to avoid the area while its Emergency Response Team worked to resolve it.
The department’s first alert, posted at 8:23 a.m., said:
“CRITICAL ALERT: MPD is on the scene of an ACTIVE SHOOTING in the area of 15th and P Street, Northwest. MPD’s Emergency Response Team is on scene. AVOID THE AREA.”
A shelter-in-place order was issued for the immediate area just before 9 a.m. Schools nearby were put on alert status, meaning no one could come in or out, a D.C. Public Schools spokesperson told The Washington Sun.
Dozens of witnesses were evacuated from the gym around 9:20 a.m. and were later taken by Metro bus to a community center, The Sun reported.
Michael Carney, a regular at the gym, told The Sun he was on a treadmill when the shooting started and heard “one pop” before he saw a victim on the gym floor. “Everyone was kind of just hiding behind planters and stuff,” he said.
Authorities had identified the suspect but police had not released his name, NBC News reported. Federal agencies, including the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, were assisting at the scene.
AlertDC said police activity closed 15th and P Street Northwest eastbound, 14th and P Street Northwest westbound and 15th and Q Street Northwest, and asked drivers to use other routes.
Also Read: Multiple People Shot in Active Shooting in Logan Circle