A shooting in the Logan Circle area of Washington, DC, within walking distance of the White House, has left one person dead and four people hospitalised, according to police. Five people were reported shot, and the incident was declared an active shooting, prompting a major emergency response, lockdowns at nearby schools and the cordoning off of several streets. The Metropolitan Police Department urged the public to avoid the area of 15th and P Street, Northwest, where a VIDA Fitness centre, St. Luke's Episcopal Church and residences are located, around the corner from a Whole Foods supermarket.
Witnesses described chaos inside the gym. James Spellman said he was there a little after 8 am local time when he heard shots fired, with about 50 people inside. He said a man fell to the ground within seconds and a pool of blood spread, and that the man, who had been shot in the neck, was instantly dead after a gym member rushed to help. Spellman said he and others ran out as more gunfire was heard outside, and a woman who escaped described the scene as horrific, with gunpowder and smoke present when shots were heard again.S1
Police said the suspected shooter barricaded himself inside an apartment above the gym on 15th Street. Police chief Jeffery W Carroll said authorities had an idea who he was, and the suspect was described as wearing grey shorts and carrying a grey and black gun. Negotiators made contact with the man, but a gunshot was heard before officers stormed the apartment and found his body. Local council member Brooke Pinto, who had posted on social media about the shooting at and outside Vida Fitness, told residents not to go to the area while police searched for the suspect.S1S2
The FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives assisted police in the investigation. The owner of Vida Fitness said he was out of state and trying to return to Washington as quickly as possible, and that none of the gym's managers were allowed on the premises while the investigation continued. He said he had no idea who the shooter was.S1
