The Marissa Mitchell Show: November 12, 2026

It looks like we do not. In the meantime, we will try to work on that to get it to you and provide those details for you. It is coming momentarily. Here it is. Well, I can't quite see that far. Steve, can you read it to us? Well, as you read it off your screen, they're just basically informing folks about the closure of the Vita in Logan Circle and reminding members of the safety and well-being of the members and the guests are of the highest priority. And then going on to say our thoughts are with everyone affected by the incident, understanding the news may be deeply concerning to the community. And then saying to members the facility will remain closed until... Further notice and they'll have more details still to come. So that is the message being put out by Vita Fitness to its membership. Vita Fitness, of course, the scene of the initial shooting this morning, just now three hours ago as we're entering the 11 o'clock hour here in Washington. Yeah, we know that the suspect was a member at Vita Gym at the Vita Fitness there and also lived in the building that was connected to the gym. That was where he had barricaded himself on the seventh floor. And we're also hearing reports that. that there were some conflicts that he had on and off again with the HOA. We are seeing reports of what our Melanie Olmick said was a manifesto, if you will, that he had posted on social media, basically saying that his manifesto was an engineering report that detailed some of the problems he was having in the building, some of those including not having hot water, not having there being reports of mold, of mice, things of that nature. And apparently was having some issues with that, how that connected to the gym. We are still trying to work that out, find some further details. So not exactly sure how that all played out. But nonetheless, it is something that was connected. He then went back to his apartment, his unit there in the apartment building that is connected to Vita and then barricaded himself and was shooting back and forth with law enforcement officers. And then ultimately, law enforcement heard a gunshot go off. inside of the unit that he was in, and that's when they forced entry and found him there. And we now have confirmed information from Brooke Pinto, the council member for this district, saying that he is confirmed dead at this hour. And there's going to be even more questions, right? And his identity has not been confirmed yet, but appears to be a longtime member of the community. We'll leave it at that for now. Let's get to Julie Donaldson right now, who has a little bit more information for us, joining us right near the scene. Julie? Yeah, it looks like they're really trying to clear out the scene here. We've got police cars, Metro Transit moving out. We've had some federal agents that are moving out as well as, again, as they... I have confirmed that the person was arrested and is deceased from that. Now, we know this was in Unit 704. And as Jacqueline was mentioning, we got a copy of this manifesto. As police were saying that there was a disagreement between the owner of that unit, the person that lived in that unit, and the HOA. In this manifesto, she was saying it reads out, and it's been going back for quite some time, that there was a disagreement where there was some work that was supposed to be done on the facade and out there on the balcony. He showed many pictures during this manifesto. A manifesto of mice and mold, of where it shows that things did not get done according to what he thought. He says two years of living in luxury and the start of six months, no shower, no dryer, no HVAC and cooking. These pictures that he's posted on this show the area that's been covered up of mold. Of the temperature that created a lot of uncomfort there and things that were supposed to be fixed. The place told him that, you know what, we'll have to see you in court. He said, we saw you in court. I'm being told by sources that just yesterday he was in court and he lost his case. Now that has not been confirmed. We'll have to do definitely much more research into that, but that is what I'm being told from sources that knew this was in unit 704. They knew the owner of that as a Matt Lambert here in the HOA documents, the owner of that, Dr. Lambert. He was providing a summary of the building's envelope with additional units that had this damage that it was not done. So we're going to continue to look into this case to see what we can have, but we do have some documents here where he was trying to post this publicly, trying to fight this out. What exactly goes into this and to the people that he did take this out on, of course, we don't know that. That'll be part of the investigation. But part of this also reads that the project was not completed as scoped as relevant water intrusion came on in, and it was on the terrace. Common elements were designed to protect Unit 704 in the building. It says, over time, the intrusion into Unit 704's north and east facade walls and terrace caused multiple areas to deteriorate, and that brought high humidity levels inside Unit 704. High moisture content, tested building materials, severe corrosion below a north-facing window within the unit was located where the facade and the terrace water intrusion occurred. So it goes on to list a bunch of issues that he had with this. Sloppy exterior caulk, significant water retention within the unit. in the building as well. So this is something that he was putting out there, again, wanting to get some attention, saying he did take this to a court, said it's my manifesto, it's an engineering report. I do have sources, again, that were telling me that he did lose in court yesterday, and the police were saying that one of the reasons they believe that he went on this is that he did have an issue with the HOA. Again, what that has to do with whomever he went and targeted within the Vita, which is right next door to the gym. It's 15, the entrance is just 15 feet from the gym. from the apartment building, so maybe he's a member there. We don't know exactly again. Who he was targeting within that, but police did hint that his frustration and disagreement with the HOA, which he has posted very publicly out here, could have been a big reason for why today this horrific, horrific scene played out. Again, we talked to some people that were coming out. This is really shook up about this. It's not something they're used to having in their neighborhood. It's not something they're used to having in their apartment building. A lot of people sending out pictures as they were in lockdown, not allowed to leave their apartment. As they were trying to secure the area, again, knowing that he was locked in, making sure there was nobody else that was out there, just really, really, really shaken up from this, trying to be able to put together and understand exactly why he would go this far with something that was a disagreement. We'll continue to look further into this and continue to look further into the manifesto and into the court documents that we have to try to bring you exactly more information on what took place here as well. Steve Jacklin. Julie, I have a quick question for you. I think you were the one who said that you spoke with a witness who may have interacted with the suspect in an elevator. Do you remember? I think you were the one who mentioned that. Yeah. No, no, but I have been able to be in contact and get information from multiple people that do live in that apartment building. They were sending pictures to a group all morning of what was going on. They showed pictures of somebody that looked like they were being arrested outside. I don't know if exactly that was, in fact, the suspect that was being arrested or just somebody that was kind of maybe police might have suspected. So we're waiting to really confirm all this, but we are getting a lot of information. A lot of the people that were in the building also saying that they're getting really conflicting reports of what was was happening, saying that when he did bear He barricaded himself inside his unit, which police said that was his unit in 704, which this manifesto is saying 704 had a lot of those issues, issues with the HOA, a very disgruntled person says he's living in, this is supposed to be a very luxury building, high expense to be able to stay here and for these things not to be taken care of. So I don't know, I don't have any information, somebody who might've had interactions exactly with him, but just information from people that were locked inside, just paranoid of what was happening. And seeing the heavy police presence, seeing the shooters on the rooftop, seeing shooters that were in the police presence that was even inside other people's units to be able to get to 704. And they did say that there was fires on the seventh floor because of all these issues that he was having with his unit. It shows a fireplace that he couldn't use. It very well could be part of, he set it on fire, maybe to show an example of just how bad things were. We don't know. But of course, a lot of that information will come out as the investigation takes place. But he's been posting. Posting on this manifesto publicly, it goes back for quite a while that he's been making posts. I see some here from back earlier this year. He was charged $102,000 in order to try to get this fixed. That's where he said, let's go into court. And again, sources telling me that he did lose that court case yesterday. Thank you. Julia, I'm curious. I know you had a chance to talk briefly and with other people who were in that building in that area. Before a lot of this information came out, but have you heard from anybody else in the building? Like, were other people concerned about the condition of the building? Has that come up amongst anybody else? Or do you think that this was perhaps one tenant who felt particularly strong about the conditions in his particular unit? Well, it does go on here. And I was reading it while Stephanie was doing a report trying to get into it because it is a little bit lengthy there of just how much damage. And it did say that in this manifesto, there were other units that were involved that were, you know, maybe had some of the damage as well as this unit 704. 704 is mentioned heavily throughout this manifesto. But it is said there were other units that were part of there. I haven't been able to talk to anybody in the building to see if this is anything that directly impacted them. But again, I was just Just getting this information, just reading it right before we came on. We're going to see if anybody else has had some issues or if they were aware of these issues and aware of maybe just how the HOA continues to work with those that do live in this building. If they've had some similar challenges, even if they don't have issues to get their unit, just kind of the interaction that they have been having. But again, they said, you know, he's like, fix this or I'll see or fix this, pay this or I'll see you in court. He flat out said see you in court. And again, the source is telling me that he lost yesterday. I appreciate that, Julie Donaldson. We're getting some great information going through some of the work that was published online by the. We'll ble motive. The big question is who was the victim in this case and what is the tie in right between the potential actions there and of course the big question now that we have confirmed through Councilman Brook Pointing in DC that the suspect is deceased, we may never know how this escalated from someone who has been in the community for a long time and was a disgruntled resident in, at least most recently, how that turned into murder. And, you know, that's the question we may never get an answer to now with the suspect deceased. Yeah, I know that Stephanie Ramirez, she's still out there on the scene. We did want to get to her, right? We can go to Steph now. We can check in with her now. Let's do that, as a matter of fact, because Stephanie's been waiting patiently just around the corner from where Julie is. Steph? Hey guys, yeah, we're now here with a neighbor who has been out here for a little bit. Thank you for being with us here on Fox Five. Tell everybody your name and, you know. My name is Christian Smith. I live in the neighborhood. Um... I live right up here behind Logan Circle. I work right here at Players Club. I was on my way to go get some lunch over here at Stoney's and walked up to this. And then when I walked up here, I got a bunch of messages from my parents in Delaware saying that there was an active shooter in the neighborhood. And, honestly, right now I'm really impressed by the police presence and our National Guard right now. It's really impressive. Christian, that's how you found out about this, from your parents in Delaware? Yeah, in Delaware, yeah. So this reached a lot of people. What was your reaction when you learned the severity of what's going on? Oh, yeah, I didn't understand the severity until about a minute ago when I was hearing some of the other people talk. I didn't realize that the shooting was that massive right now. Yeah, this is shocking to me right now. You told me you were born here in D.C., you live in the neighborhood here, you use the businesses up and down the street. What's in your heart about what's going on? You said shocking. Yeah, because I know this neighborhood is a very close-knit neighborhood. A lot of people know. looking out for each other out here. So, yeah, I'm just worried about the neighborhood. I'm worried about the people that work up and down on this strip. So I'm just hoping everybody's okay and their businesses are going to open up today. And I had asked you, do you know if your people are okay? Yeah, I've sent out some messages, so I was going to go over to Stoney's. Um, and, uh... I haven't heard anything back yet, but I'm just hoping everybody's okay out there. Christian, thank you for your time here on Talks5. Guys, I'm going to point the camera now to the other direction behind us here. So we're a block away from the scene. The scene is to the right. What we've been seeing now in the past, I'm going to say at least half an hour, more law enforcement members walking away from the scene, appearing to put away their helmets, their shields. We do see a lot more National Guard also assisting, not just with blocking the scene, making sure neighbors are getting the help. they need, any vehicles they need to get out now that they're letting some more go through. That's happening. We also know the fire department slowly will start breaking down some of their crews here on scene here because of the massive response. I would also mention the situation for parents, because we've been checking in with D.C. public schools. We are waiting for them to see when they are going to lower their status. But the latest is sent out maybe an hour ago, but that is still what stands right now as of the spokesperson I spoke with. And they were explaining that D.C. public schools, they are in an alert status still. That means that entering or exiting the building is not permitted. And they're going to continue to communicate with families via text on how that will happen. But just to name the schools again, we've got Bancroft Elementary, Banneker High School, Brent Elementary at Meyer, Cardozo, Garnett Patterson, Garrison Elementary, John Lewis Elementary, Mary Reed Elementary, Oyster Adams Bilingual at the Adams. campus Ross Elementary and Thomas Elementary. Of course, we're checking in to see when the status will be lifted or changed in any way. Again, more law enforcement members coming down here. I am in touch with some of the folks who knew people that were in the gym at the time. And I did. Talked to very briefly with a woman who, my understanding, I was told she was let go by this suspect shooter and she was just too distraught to speak with me on camera. She walked away. We understand that. Others who are in communication with those who were in the gym, who were trying to take shelter, they're describing, I'm reading some of the text messages, but they're describing, you know, helping, coming to the aid of one of the members who had been shot. I was also told that they are being questioned by police. I believe it is now that they were taken to likely headquarters, but taken to another location to get questioned by police. But just again here, people are still... Obviously, shocked, stunned by what's going on. It is a quieter scene here, though. We are seeing a little bit more movement, though, as now the law enforcement members. Let me just step out of the way here. You'll see a little more. But the law enforcement members who responded. are coming out and we see them with rifles on. We've seen plenty with helmets in hand and shields as well responding to this scene guys. There's still a lot to do obviously on the investigative side but the response side of things appears to be winding down as both Julie and Stephanie have pointed out as you see many of those members of law enforcement that are Retreating back to their vehicles, putting their gear away, etc., and some just outright leaving the scene now from the massive, massive response that we saw three hours ago to what was then called into police as an active shooter situation in the Logan Circle area, already a busy area any time of the day in that part of downtown D.C., but at the 8 o'clock hour, certainly right in the middle of rush hour when you have so many people around. So the response was massive. Some of those officers and responders have already left the scene. Many others are preparing to do so now. So that part of the response starting to wind down, Makia. But obviously, you have a lot of questions that still need to be answered here. We have, we know one person confirmed killed in addition to the suspect who is also deceased in this case now. We are told by police that was self-inflicted. But you have another person who was in critical condition. Then you have three other people who were shot. We don't know their condition at this point. We heard not as severe as the person who is still in a life-threatening condition. But nonetheless, you still have four people who are badly hurt. And those people apparently were just... Doing their jobs, happened to be in the area at the time when the situation started to unfold a little more than three hours ago. Yeah, I'm taking a moment to read through some of the court documents here, and there's a lot of them, but apparently at the root of all of this... ...are those reported grievances that he had with the HOA Association. From what I'm seeing, these grievances date back six years. So this is something on and off that he's had issues with. Again, as we've learned, he was a resident in that building. It says that he was the owner and resident of a penthouse, a condo unit in that building. Again, this call coming in just before 8 o'clock, the first one inside of that Vita Fitness, which is located directly next to that condo building. But yeah, just an overall, just a... Tragic morning, Steve. Well, with so many people in the area, so many people who live in that neighborhood, so many people who work in that neighborhood or commuting through there or grabbing their breakfast at the bagel shop where, unfortunately, people were covering themselves and taking cover from the gunshots this morning, you can understand how many people were touched by this story. Let's get to our Tom Fitzgerald. He's just about a block away, at 14th and P right now in Logan Circle, with more of the people who are just... Trying to deal with what happened today, Tom, as this situation has now been playing out for almost three and a half hours. Yeah, good afternoon now as we pass the 12 p.m. mark, Steve. Just getting down here was difficult because of all the roads that were blocked in this central core of Washington, D.C. I want to check in here with Casey Felsner. Now, you live in here. You said you didn't hear the shooting. Well, I woke up with the helicopters over my window. I live on 16th and U, so quite a few blocks from here. But I woke up with helicopters over my window. And when I picked up my phone, a friend who lives He lives nearby, just had a message me saying that he heard shots and that's how I woke up. I had to walk down to a doctor's appointment, but now trying to go back home and I'm stuck here, can't cross. It's going to be a terrifying way to start your day. What was the first thing you did? It is. Well, I had to go to that doctor appointment, but I turned on the social media to see if there was anything happening, and I have people from all over messaging me, like, are you okay? Is everything okay? So, yeah, it's a horrible way to wake up. Yeah, unfortunate, to say the least, but you've lived in this neighborhood for nine years. Nine years, yeah. It's a busy, active place. What's life like here normally? Yeah. Life is great in this neighborhood, it's a very lively neighborhood, there is a lot of business, restaurants, bars. The occasional incidents happen, but the scale of this is extremely large. Like, I've never seen anything like it. It's quite a massive response. Have you ever been in a situation to see something like this? People here who have been in D.C. for a while are thinking back to incidents like the Navy Yard shooting we had over 10 years ago and other experiences like that. Yeah, I mean, I have not seen it. I mean, I was on... There was a shooting up here a couple years ago in front of a bar up here, but that was a targeted shooting. It was a very targeted thing. But nothing like this, barricades, people still in on active scenes. There's certainly emergency alert text messaging these days that we didn't have the availability to use a number of years ago. Did you feel like you got enough of an information stream as this was going on this morning? Oh, yeah. Like we got... Message prompted on our phones around here, like emergency alerts, alert to stay in shelter. Unfortunately, I was already here when that happened. But yeah, like we got a lot of, like the whole city is talking about all the way up until the downtown. Does this alter how you feel about your home now? No, I think it's part of living in America nowadays. Like it's not. Anything new, really. It's very unfortunate that it's like this. We need to get some more gun control in this country. But this is part of living here. It happens all the time and it happens in every town. And it happens in schools all the time. It's a horrifyingly truthful statement, Casey. Thank you very much for your time. We appreciate it. We're glad you're safe. We're glad you and your neighbors are getting through this morning. If I can, and I know you guys have been all over this all morning, just let me orient you a little bit about the massive number of agencies here. If we could just swing over this way. We've got agencies anywhere from obviously D.C. police, D.C. fire and EMS. We have seen the U.S. Marshal Service here as well, and a large contingent of National Guard that have been basically locking down the neighborhood directly adjacent. You can see some officers coming with us with long guns right now. Now, they have been pretty much surrounding this area since we arrived here. Thank you for being here. Shortly before 11 o'clock this morning. Now, it's interesting. While these streets are still blocked off to traffic, you can clearly see there's still some people now in the neighborhood coming out of their homes and getting on with their day, you know, walking their dogs. So it's this odd confluence of, you know, this massive law enforcement and emergency presence. Plus, also, people just now... Coming out of their homes this morning and trying to get going with whatever it is they had to do today. As you heard, Casey said she had a doctor's appointment she had to get to. Other people are trying to get to the grocery store right now. They're being redirected by, you see that woman right there being redirected by the National Guard. Because some of these streets are open, some of them are not. So it's a little bit confusing to folks as they're trying to get out right now about exactly where they are going and how they are going to get to where they are. They need to go, guys. Tom, we talked a lot about that response earlier and just how massive it was. And it's very rare, even in this city where a lot of things happen, to see that much response that quickly with that many agencies and that much firepower, to be honest, for this situation. Now, the mayor and the police chief both said that if there's an active shooter. Anybody who is within earshot, accessibility, they're going to go and they're going to be there. And because of this proximity downtown, you've got a lot of law enforcement officers that can get there. Tom, it's interesting. You know, we talked earlier this morning, too, with our former colleague and photographer, Scott Wolfson, who is not with us anymore on the journalism side of things, but lives in the neighborhood. And we were talking about that balance for the neighbors. And he pointed out, while you never want to See a situation like this happen that requires a response like this, it is on the flip side nice to know that you're in an area where this response is available should it need to be. That being said, it did seem like a lot, didn't it? Yeah, well, you know, I'll tell you, I heard my former colleague, your former colleague, Scott Wilson, on the air right now, who had worked for many, many years at Fox. He and I, and you, had covered many of these types of incidents over the years, whether you're talking about Virginia Tech, the Navy Yard, you can go right down the line. A word to the moment we are in right now to not lose sight of the fact that Over the last couple of weeks, we have seen a substantial increase in the security posture around Washington, D.C. Now, some of this is in regards to the ongoing military situation the U.S. finds itself in right now with an ongoing military conflict with Iran. But we have also recently heard some cabinet members have been moved onto military bases Because of just the last couple of days, it was announced that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessenthad moved on to a military facility here in Washington for extra added safety precautions. Just to begin this week, there was a car that drove into The front of Lafayette Park in front of the White House, that sparked a massive response. And then later that morning, there was a fence jumper. So I can tell you, we've seen a lot more of this. We were up on the Capitol yesterday and a larger than usual presence and larger than usual scrutiny about people who were accessing the campus yesterday, especially as it was well known that there were more members on there, both the current Congress and the We have seen this, especially over the last couple of weeks, Steve, and it served well this morning as far as the response to this, because I was watching, like a lot of our viewers this morning on Fox 5, one of the first images you popped up was just a sea of emergency lights just going as far as the eye could see up P Street. And that's pretty much what we saw when we arrived a couple of hours later, and they are still on the scene here. We're seeing, you know, some of the top equipment that they have, MRAPs, heavily armored military vehicles around here. They brought basically everything you would need to deal with a massive situation down here, and that is, you know, obviously what they faced this morning, the departments that we're seeing as well, too, you know, from either the U.S. Secret Service, Uniformed Police, U.S. Park Police. It's just been stunning to see the amount of law enforcement and emergency personnel, fire, EMS, first responders that turned out to this today. And they do not appear, for the large part, a lot of them, to be going anywhere anytime soon. There's a lot of them still here on the scene right now. We expect there's going to be a pretty large presence throughout this day. One of the, definitely one of the largest law enforcement turnouts that we've seen in a long time here in Washington. But to your point, what they faced this morning was the unknown. They didn't know what they were getting into. In hindsight, sure, there are viewers who are watching right now that are saying, okay, if this is really just someone who had a personal conflict with somebody else and this was the end result, why is there so much law enforcement? But to Tom's Tom's point, you're right, we just had a... Secretary who had threats on them internationally. We're not far from the White House. We've had other incidents. You had a breach of security outside the White House, which is a few blocks from where this scene is earlier this week. So if you don't know what you're getting into, you send everybody and then you figure it out later. And so to that, where they're looking at what the worst case scenario could be. Thank Finding out that this, in fact, as tragic as it is, not to undermine that in any way, as tragic as it is for this to be someone who appears, McKay, to have a personal beef with somebody else, that they chose to settle in this manner, certainly different from What potentially could have happened and I think what led you. so many responders to that scene initially. Not to mention just so many innocent bystanders who were just caught in the crossfires while, you know, this morning while he was out there between the gym and the residential building, which also officials said as they were clearing out the building, he was still firing off shots. So right now we do want to get back out to Melanie Olmick, who's been on the scene for us. Let's check back in with her. Mel, what are you seeing or learning? Yeah, so what we're seeing now is a lot of the emergency equipment now starting to be moved out of here. We've seen, as Tom was also describing, we've seen Guys in heavily armed suits with guns, they've been coming out. You can see D.C. police now leaving. D.C. Fire EMS starting to wrap up as well. But just down the block there where you see P Street over to my left, that is the street where the shooting happened. You can still see National Guard there doing their protective measures, keeping people out of that scene. That's probably going to be shut down for quite some time. But a little. A little bit more, a little bit more of a relaxed stance here. Joseph, I don't know if you can possibly turn the camera around to the other side of where we are. We are on, what road are we on? It's hard to know what street we're on here. We're on 14th, that's right, we're on 14th. So you can see here, 14th Street. Just look down 14th Street and you can still, this entire block was jam-packed, wall-to-wall with first responders. D.C. police, law enforcement for other federal agencies. So they are now starting to clear that. Pretty soon, I think the traffic will start to be able to flow through here. But still, a lot to figure out as we've been hearing from folks about how this all went down. Were there any warning signs before this person who lived in the Metropole apartments on the seventh floor, before he resorted to violence? We just won't know yet. Of course, Fox 5, we're all working as a team here. We're getting information. We're reading some of the court documents that this man apparently had filed because of the ongoing lawsuits he was having with the HOA there about mold and water intrusion in his unit. So there is a record there as far as that goes. And then, of course, that last posting saying, this is my manifesto, the engineering report. So, um... There's going to be a lot of after action. You heard Council Member Brooke Pinto saying that they will start to kind of come together as a community, as Logan Circle always has done, and put their arms around each other and talk about what they can do to keep each other feeling safe. This is certainly a very unusual circumstance. And Mayor Bowser also sort of pushing back on some suggestions by some media during that press conference that, you know, So, um, the... Whether this is a safe city or those sorts of things. And she was basically saying that she's so proud of the work of the Metropolitan Police Department in what they've been doing over the last year or so to drive down crime and really crediting the work of all of the law enforcement agencies in the area for their quick response here. So, again, that's what we're seeing here. It looks like things are starting to wind down as far as the wider response. And I think pretty soon, within a few hours. Maybe an hour or so. I think people will be able to travel through here, but I don't think P Street is going to be open for quite some time. I'm curious. We were talking earlier, too, and it's not just the access to the neighborhood. It's the access from the neighborhood. And we heard, I go back to the gentleman we talked to now almost two hours ago who worked at the bagel shop next door and the deli where people were sheltering in that deli. But he was fine, came out unscathed. But he hasn't been able to go home, hasn't been able to access because everything is still cordoned off. So do we know at least now, are they going to, I guess, you know, widen the perimeter or narrow the scope of what's closed and what's not so that more people are able to get back into where they had to evacuate from? I think that will eventually happen, but as I said, P Street from 14th to 15th, and we have not been able to get eyes on 15th Street, but at least 14th to 15th is going to be blocked off for quite some time because it actually happened closer to 15th and P as opposed to 14th, but 14th is the closest that we could get to it. So, yes, I would say they are starting to shrink the perimeter. You also talked to a guy who was another guy who didn't want to go on camera. A lot of people are talking about this, but they're just not willing to share it publicly. Publicly, he was... He was also in the gym, again he said it was one shot, it was very loud, and he did say to us that the person who was shot was a gym regular, someone who was known to people. So that information is going to be forthcoming as the days go on, and maybe even as the later day goes on. Obviously, you know, they have to notify next of kin, those sorts of things. So once they go through that process, we'll get more information. We can also tell you that the surviving people that were shot, we know that one was taken to Howard University Hospital and three were taken to George Washington University Hospital. So we'll be checking in over there as well, just making sure if there's anything. Anything we need to know in terms of those developments? And again, just letting everybody now just kind of take a breather, take a deep breath, be with their loved ones. That's what many people told us they were going to do. They were just going to go find a nice, quiet place and be together and just try to process everything they went through this morning. Yourself included, Mel. Before we let you go, though, and just let our viewers know, we're going to stay on top of this until at least 12 o'clock. Thank you very much. As we're seeing more and more, obviously, officials leaving the scene. But, Mel, to those who were injured and survived as you just ran down the hospitals that they're being treated at, the police chief, Carol, did make a statement to the fact that they could have been part of construction workers outside or a construction team outside. Do we know any more about if that, in fact, was the case? We just don't know any more than what the chief said, and again, not being able to have any access to P Street from 14th to 15th, it's hard at this point because I can't see what's going on. I wouldn't be able to tell you if there's an actual construction site there, but I just have to go with what the chief said, and I think that's more information to come as the day goes on. Appreciate it. Melanie Alwick joining us from right along the scene as she has been for the last three hours or so. Yeah, that's right. We do have another update on the school situation. We told you many of them were on alert status, especially in this area. We want to get out to Stephanie Ramirez, who has an update for us. Yeah, guys, so I'm just reading this from what I just received, and it is that D.C. public schools, they have received the all-clear from D.C. police. So that means the alert status has been lifted as of 11-15, so a little bit ago, but as of 11-15, so the buildings, they've resumed to normal operation status. Thank you very much for joining us. This is a public safety alert. It looks like we were maybe, oh no, here it goes. This is now DC police, the public safety alert on our cell phones as we're here, noting that the shelter in place in the 1500 block of 15th Street Northwest has officially been lifted. Residents and businesses, they are now able to go back to normal, resume normal activity, and they are still asked, though, to follow the instructions from law enforcement members and police officials. You guys were talking about just how big the scene is. I'm going to try to see if my photographer... I can zoom in, but I took a screen grab of my iPhone maps showing the streets that were blocked around the area. You can see from Logan Circle on. So this is what people were running into, trying to get around the area as this emergency was unfolding. We were coming in from Chillum, Maryland, back-to-back traffic. We saw police and ambulances all over racing past us. There were helicopters flying incredibly low. You really don't see many helicopters because of the flying restrictions here in the. In the Washington, D.C. area, so to see multiple ones flying as low as they were and to hear and see the large presence was definitely concerning. As my colleagues have been explaining, you heard it now, the official lifted in status here and we have been seeing law enforcement members move through, start to pack up and move out, but still there is police tape blocking off P Street from 14th to 15th, all the way down 15th, the building to the right. Is where the main investigation was happening, but now we are seeing more neighbors start to come out, start to walk their dogs, try to get back to what's going on. But still a lot of people upset with what transpired here today, and rightfully so, as the investigation continues into what happened. Jacqueline, sorry, not Jacqueline, McKee and Steve, I'm going to send it back into you for now. But again, schools got the all clear as well. Everybody's allowed to resume normal in the region, but just if you're in the immediate area. Please follow police direction, guys. All right, thank you, Steph. Earlier, we heard from a number of witnesses who told us that people are literally running for their lives, especially a woman we spoke to who was, you know, undergoing an early morning workout, and many of them took cover from that Vita gym there in that area inside of a nearby deli shop. But as you can see, moments ago, that shelter in place has officially been lifted. This means that to an extent, business can resume. But as you can also see, there still are some road closures in effect in that area, which, of course, will continue to keep you updated on as more restrictions are lifted. We do have more witness sound as we've been talking to people all throughout the morning. We know earlier we spoke to Tailgate Ted who said that his wife was in a building which was under lockdown for a couple of hours. Obviously very nerve-wracking that he could not access her but they managed to stay in contact through text messaging. Let's toss to some more sound that we heard earlier from witnesses. They started describing this guy and then we start hearing We're hearing five shots and people start running and we all start running. And so, you ran out of Vita. Oh, no. We, like, all evacuated. We weren't running out. The people who saw it, it happened. I think, like, a couple people saw it, like, have it in front of their eyes. They ran out. But we're still trying to figure out, like, what the situation's like. So, we just were walking. We were evacuating, right? Yeah. And then, while we're outside, like, five minutes after, like, this happened, we're all outside. And then we hear more gunshots, and people just, like, scattered. So, did you run? I ran. I ran, like, past, like, Whole Foods. So, like, Bluestone Cafe Shop. How are you feeling? It must be horrible. It's horrible. It's, like, surreal, like, even, like, that I'm a part of, like, the situation where I knew it. Like, I was at, like, the first point of, like, the instant, you know? Yeah. But, yeah. Yeah. I'm sorry. I know some of us joined a little bit late here. Was there anything said? Like what happened to lead up to this? Or did you just hear shots? I did not hear no words, no, um, nothing like that. I just heard a loud bang. That's it. So there wasn't like no argument or anything like that. But also the thing would be that it's like you have to scan in to get inside. So either like someone let him in or he scanned in, he's a member of this, but this was like also near the, um, so once you Scan in, you have to go down an area, because this area is kind of underground, so it's like near that area, and I don't know, I just heard a loud bang, and he was around that vicinity. Did you talk to anyone who saw what happened? No, I didn't. I did not talk. I think the people who saw it just ran because they knew what was happening. Like everyone else, like 90%, 95% of people didn't know what was happening. You just heard a loud bang. Maybe they thought like a bouncy ball popped or like it was a gunshot, you know? Like the gunshot is like middle of my list, you know? It's not the bottom, it's the middle. Like I would think like somebody else, like a painting fell down or something. So you were inside the gym when this happened? I was on the treadmill when it happened. You saw someone you guys thought he was dead already? Are you ready? Someone told me he was dead and I just saw someone laying at first and someone said he's dead. I'm like, really? And then I take a peek and he's not moving at all. So then I took it for face value that he was dead. And then the people on the cardio floor or area, they have to kind of jump, not jump over him, but walk over him. And he was He wasn't moving at all, so. I was one of the witnesses that we talked to earlier, just documenting what happened inside that Vita Fitness just around 8 o'clock this morning, which was the initial call that led police out to Logan Circle. And then for the next two-plus hours, the search was on for a gunman who they believed was an active shooter. It does appear now, Makia, looking back on it, you have the person who was shot and killed inside of the gym itself. And it appears that the other people who were shot, there were four other people who suffered gunshot wounds in this case. Whereas he was exiting that building. So it does appear that the shootings themselves were in that relatively brief amount of time. But then once that suspect ended up retreating into what we now know is his own place of living and hold himself up, barricaded himself inside of his unit. Police do say that he was firing shots at police through the door of his unit. Police then were in touch with him, communicating with him, and per Police Chief Jeff Carroll, at that point while they were on the phone, officers on the phone with the suspect, they heard a gunshot, they entered that residence and found the suspect suffering from a gunshot wound to which D.C. Council Member Brooke Pinto later confirmed that that suspect was deceased. So that is what played out in the last. Three and a half-ish hours in Logan Circle. A lot of people still wondering why, you know, why this happened, and we still don't have all the dots connected, but we are still hearing from people who are quite shaken and who are in the area. And let's get back to Julie Donaldson, who was talking with more of the folks there right near where this all played out. Yeah, I just approached somebody who works at the gym, but as he was willing to come and talk to us here, police pulled him away. As we did hear, that police were saying anybody was in that area and was in the gym at that time or in the areas outside where the shots took place or in the lobby that they want to talk to them as they're trying to put together this investigation. So as soon as he is done with police, he said he will come and share what he experienced inside the gym when that took place. He was a member who did work for the gym. I also have somebody who's going to be come talking with us who just lives right next What's he's experienced with this unfolding in the neighborhood that they feel has been relatively safe. Now, police told us that a likely cause and something that they think that might have been a reason why this person went on some sort of a tangent against still not understanding exactly everything behind it as it is still early on just a few hours in, said a disagreement with the HOA. Now, we knew that this was in Unit 704. That's where he had barricaded himself after leaving the gym of the Metropole Apartments. Now, you saw there's been plenty of pictures that are out there of police targeting that one apartment where they said that they came inside, found him, suffered with a gunshot wound. He is deceased. But the person inside that 704, there is a manifesto on 704 that dates back for years of just frustrations they've had with the HOA. There was construction that was going on. Now, I'm told that there was scaffolding that was around the apartment building for about About a year, and they believe that this is something that took What took place as a part of that, the facade in his apartment and the balcony of his apartment was not done in a way that it should have been done. He said this is a, you know, he was living in a penthouse, it's high rise, there's a lot of money that he was paying to have this luxury living lifestyle. Pictures that he posted in this manifesto show there's a lot of mold that came into the area. It shows a lot of water damage that came into the area of the floor peeling off, the walls peeling off, of a fireplace he could not use. So basically it looks by the pictures that this was a place that was very difficult to Live in if he was in there, especially for the price that was that was being asked. There was a price I believe that they had to pay. And they said, well, you know, either you paid or you're going to see you in court. He said, OK, we'll see you in court. So this did go to court. We're trying to get more information on that case. I believe it might still be open and active. So we're trying to get more information on that. But if the police are saying that there was a disagreement with him, the owner of the unit of 704 at the Metropole and. The HOA, that that could have caused something, that this is more information that gives us into maybe the mindset of somebody who was very frustrated for a very long time. Again, not sure how that ties to the gym. The person that maybe that were, you know, unfortunately that he did kill inside the gym of the others that were injured as well. A lot of people that were here when they heard the shots, first ones coming in at 802, they said 802, they heard the shots and they were a block away from the gym and they were already seeing dozens of police cars that were coming to the area. Helicopters are on top. So there was a very, very, very quick response. They said they ran south on 15th Street. That's what I'm on right now. So they were running towards the National Monument away from the apartment building and the police down here. We have seen the heavily policed presence that was here. All the cars were lined up. Um, that have since really moved out. They're slowly clearing them out. Still a few left. Um, but there's investigation still again is ongoing as they're just trying to talk to any of the witnesses that were there. Again, I was just talking with someone right before we came live who said he's willing to talk with us and tell us, you know, what he experienced, what he saw, what he knows. But first it was important that he get that information to the police as this investigation is ongoing as well. So if we get somebody else's coming through, I'm told that The Lives Close By will share that as well and kind of get this experience. Of those that I've been able to have some sort of communication with, obviously a lot of them very shook, having panic attacks. This is unfolding. They're looking outside their windows and seeing such a heavy police presence, seeing the shooters on top of the building and other people's apartments. And this is a place where they live. They're supposed to be safe and feel safe in their own apartments, safe when they want to go to the gym and get their workout before they begin their day. And this has definitely shook up a lot of that. So a lot of people today are now trying to put together the information of just what What took place and try to move on with their their days as best as they can. Steve Dragun. All right. Mikiya here. I'll take it over. Thank you so much, Julie, for summing that up for us. We do want to get back out to Stephanie Ramirez. She has Councilmember Brooke Pinto there, the chair of the Public Safety Committee, who also had a couple of updates for us not too long ago. So let's check back in with both of them to see what's going on now. Steph. Yeah. I'm sorry. We're on air right now. But just a quick update. I mean, we heard our colleague Julie describing some of the conflict that was explained between the two. But you have an even greater update now. Can you just explain to everyone what's going on, what is believed to have transpired here? Sure. So the suspect was in litigation recently with his building owner and. We believe the suspect went into Vita Fitness to target that building owner and shoot him and kill him, which he did. And it's just an awful, unacceptable situation. That's something that could be resolved. Thank you. You know, led to a murder. It's just outrageous. It's outrageous. The suspect then left Vita and shot others outside, several construction workers, a woman. We don't know if those were randomized shootings as he may have been trying to flee the scene, then went back into the apartment building and a barricade was around him. He set parts of the building on fire. And, you know, I just want to thank our first responders and our SWAT teams. Many SWAT teams wait in a situation like that. But ours entered the building and really did an excellent job to contain the situation as quickly as they could. The suspect shot himself and he's now dead. May I ask you, so it is absolutely confirmed it is the owner of the building who was killed? Yes, the owner of the building was killed inside of Vita this morning. You said shot at point blank. Yeah, he was shot and targeted to be killed, clearly. And it's... It's awful. I know it's very early, but do we know anything about the owner right now or their family? Has the family been notified? Like, what, you know, where is this all set right now? All those conversations are ongoing, and so I'll kind of let them share that update. You are the chair of the Public Safety Judiciary Committee here. What are your thoughts right now on whether there could have been anything to prevent this? Some of the matter was known, but to what extent is the big question. Yeah. I mean, this appears to be a really targeted murder with somebody who was clearly troubled. This person, we believe, was a physician, was in his 50s, was living a life in the neighborhood. Many knew him. And so it's, I think, an important reminder. To all of us to look out for warning signs if somebody is engaging in rhetoric or behavior that may have tipped anyone off to what they were going through and that things could have escalated. So we're looking into all of that now. Simultaneously, we have to continue our efforts to bolster our local police department response and make sure that we address the 50-year staffing low. So, um, We're setting up, as part of a legislative package that I'm moving through committee this month, a domestic violence unit within the Metropolitan Police Department because we're finding that while violence is going down across the city, we still have far too many disputes that are happening among people who know each other. Thank you. And that's something that we have to... ...really take seriously and bolster our resources around. We're also looking at legislative avenues to allow for gun relinquishment when somebody has these type of warning signs or has violated the law before. Red flag laws, essentially. Red flag laws, which we do have in place now, but expanding the allowance and requirements for gun relinquishment and not penalizing somebody if they turn in their gun that they have illegally to make sure that we get guns off the streets. Do you know, have you ever met? Have you met any of the people involved? Do you know any of the people involved? You know, I first heard about this this morning by people calling me who are at Vita. And so this is not, as I've said, just the neighborhood that I represent, but I also live in this neighborhood. These are my neighbors, so I know many of the people who live along these corridors, many of these businesses. This is... All of whom are really reeling and traumatized right now as we try to get to the bottom of making sure that the other victims who were shot get the best treatment that they can and hopefully recover and coming together as a community to make really clear we won't stand for violence and any dispute should never come to taking another human life. And just a few more questions for you. Have you said the victim's name at this point, the owner of the building? Thank you. I haven't. I'm going to allow the police to share that soon. Do you have an age? Thank you. The police will be sharing that very soon. Okay. And then just any last thoughts? I know you've said a lot here, but what's your immediate next step? Today, after what happened here, you know, we are both looking into the facts of this case again to identify were there any other warning signs that we could have been aware of? How can we ensure that we are all looking out for one another if there are warning signs like this, whether it's through the litigation or through other comments made? And then, as I always will do, looking at the law and seeing how we can ensure that the laws we have here in Washington, D.C. are setting us up. To have a safe city. We have made a ton of progress over the last several years in driving down violence, but there is more to do. I'm moving a legislative package. Through the Judiciary Committee this month, that I hope my colleagues will support, which make dozens of other interventions to establish a domestic violence working group, an MPD, to eliminate the sunset for pretrial detention, which if we don't act would sunset at the end of this year to make sure that judges can hold violent offenders pretrial. That was a very big deal the past several years. That was a big deal, and we have to make sure that that tool is extended. And, you know, a number of other things around gun relinquishment, prevention and accountability. And so... As always, I'll be looking legislatively at what we can do and just as a community, making sure we come together in this moment. This is a thriving community. This is home to so many wonderful residents and neighbors and businesses. Vita Fitness has been a really safe gathering space to so many in our LGBTQ community as well. And so we want to make sure this community has the resources that it needs and that they know the government is behind them. Well, one last question for you here. We understand that one of the four people that were transported was in critical condition. Any update on that person, how they're doing at this time? You know, they're getting care right now. Three of the... Victims are at GW Hospital, and one is at Howard. And I know they're getting the best care they can, and I'm praying that they all come through. Thank you so much, Council Member Pinto. We appreciate your time here on Fox 5. Sorry, under the circumstances, but thank you. All right, guys, so you heard the very latest there from the council member. She's confirming for us here on Fox 5 that the person believed to have been targeted by the gunman is the owner of the building who was in the gym, Vita. At the time, I'm going to send it back to you guys. We try to collect more information, but it's the scene now here over by 14th and P a block away. You see the traffic moving behind me. They did open the roadway. They are opening some of the media access to the street. But for the most part, the block closest to the apartment building involved here still blocked off to press and mostly. Members of the public, if they can prove they live in the area, I'm sure they're being assisted there at this time. Steve, Makia. Steph, thanks very much. You just heard Stephanie talking with D.C. Councilmember Brooke Pinto, who not only chose public safety, but she lives in the neighborhood. She represents the neighborhood where this shooting occurred just around eight o'clock this morning, now almost four hours ago. But the big news that the councilmember was able to drop right there was that the victim We have a victim in this case who was Apparently shot on the treadmill this morning was the owner of the building that the apparent suspect was having a dispute with the HOA over living conditions there. And from other witness testimony this morning that we heard or witness accounts, the victim in this case was known. To be at that gym quite often at this time. So this all plays back into as we rewind back to our FBI experts and our law enforcement experts that we talked to earlier this morning playing out to the apparent targeted situation that they were outlining before. Then in a case like this, that's typically what it was looking like was that someone had a dispute with someone else, took matters into their own hands. And the council member Pinto's words shot this person point blank in the gym this morning. That person is deceased. Then upon leaving the gym, apparently fired other shots. Those conditions of those people are the ones we're still trying to confirm. But Councilmember Pinto is saying they are receiving care at this time. At this hour, the suspect's identity is not being released or revealed publicly. Brooke Pinto said that she's going to leave that to the D.C. police chief to do that. We also don't know much about the victims right now. Many of them who were taken to different hospitals across the area, including GW and Howard. But she did mention that one was a woman, also a construction worker, as we know that the shooting started in Vita Fitness and what appears to be a targeted murder when it began. And then some of the other victims, again, unknown, the connection or identities at this time happened outside of the gym. All right, let's get back to Julie Donaldson real quick. We only have about three minutes with our coverage before we head on over to the live zone. But we wanted to check back in with Julie because she's been talking with some folks who have been waiting patiently there in the community. Julie. Yeah, again, this is something that's really shook the community. Ben Peroni is somebody who lives in this neighborhood and has been kind of just here as everything's been unfolding. Just what are the emotions you go through when you realize that where your home is, that there's an active shooter and you're just trying to gather all the information? Yeah, it's scary, right? I was lucky enough to be at home and safe the whole time. And you hear the sirens go by and you don't necessarily think anything of it. Outside of that's a lot of sirens and then I start getting texts about this situation and you see it's, you know, you see, oh, four people shot and then you see maybe five people shot and then you start to wonder, okay, is it going to be six? Is it going to be 10? Is it going to be 20? You just start to think about everyone, you know, in the neighborhood when you've been here for a little while. And, um... Trying to check in and, you know, you text everyone you know that goes to that gym or lives in the neighborhood and, you know, walks their dogs and, you know, sometimes you get a text back right away. Sometimes it's 20 minutes, half hour and it's scary and, you know, and then it's just as scary for everyone you don't know. Right. So it's just it's just tough. And then you kind of sit and watch and wait. Yeah, that's, that's it. Sorry. Well, hopefully everybody that you know is okay. But of course, we know that, you know, there has been loss of life. There has been people that have been impacted as they're at the hospital trying to recover. Uh, Ben, sorry that this happened in your neighborhood. Uh, thank you for taking some time to come to talk to us and just share you a little bit about the feelings and the emotions that people in this area are, are really experienced. I appreciate that, Ben. Thank you. Okay. We'll send it back to you in Alright, thank you, Julie. As you can see, it looks like a few of those roads that have been closed for the last almost four hours are slowly beginning to reopen. Business slowly going back to being open as well in that area. Vita Fitness, where this all began, will be closed until further notice. Again, we expect to learn more about the suspect and his Possible motive, which again, lead back to some of the grievances that he had with the HOA associated with his condo building. But we will continue to follow any updates for you online at Fox5DC.com, as well as our free app, Fox Local. So be sure to download that. And as we hear more and we learn more about those grievances that Makia was just talking about, some of those date back years now. So this is not the situation where One isolated incident happened this week and someone got upset about it. There is a long line of grievances dating back for years and then reporting coming out that this case, the dispute between the suspect in this case and the homeowners association may have gone to court yesterday in an attempt to end the situation and then instead the person who we believe is the suspect in this case lost that case in court yesterday. Today, according to D.C. Councilmember Brooke Pinto, that suspect shot and killed the owner of his building, the building of which he was having a dispute with the H.O.A. in the gym this morning. Four other people shot, one of them.