Logan Circle Mass Shooting: Victim identified & former FBI agents talks emergency response

But first, tonight here at 10, the D.C. community is in mourning tonight after a mass shooting in Logan Circle. One person was killed inside a Vita Fitness. Four others injured before the suspect, a local doctor, turned the gun on himself. And tonight, we're learning more about the man killed in the attack. D.C. police have identified the victim as 46-year-old James Stewart, manager at the condo building where that suspect lived. Fox 5's Shamari Stone is kicking off our coverage tonight and joins us live from northwest D.C. with the very latest show. Tonight, people who live and work near Logan Circle are still shaken up by this. Many of them were out here when this happened, and they are traumatized, to be quite frank. That's what one woman told me. Let me move out of the way, and you can see there is a memorial growing outside of the Vita Fitness Gym. This is where the horror happened. As you look into the door right over there, there's actually a cleaning crew that showed up a short time ago, and they're actually cleaning inside there. And you see a group of around half a dozen people. They have a guitar. They're praying. They're playing music, paying tribute to the people at this memorial. As you look, there's also notes that are taped against this structure with flowers, notes, candles. As a couple comes here just to stop and read them, this community mourning over this tragic loss. Tonight, around 50 people gathered at Logan Circle to pay tribute to the victims. D.C. police say the suspected gunman, 55-year-old Dr. Matt Lambert, first shot and killed 46-year-old James Stewart, the building's property manager, around 8 o'clock this morning inside Vita Fitness in the 1500 block of 15th Street Northwest. Police say officers arrived here within 30 seconds of the initial call. Gary Coates was inside the gym when the shots rang out. Also, Nick, there was a... Large bang. I've never heard anything this loud in my life. All I knew it was a gunshot. There's no question about it. You would have known it was a gunshot. I forgot. But never heard anything that loud. And I knew it couldn't have come from the right. right. That would be the stretching area. And I just looked to the left, and at that particular moment, I saw the gunman. Investigators say Dr. Lambert then returned to his seventh floor condo in the building above the gym, firing several rounds from his patio, hitting four more people. Right now, one of those victims is in critical condition. The other three have non-life-threatening injuries. Authorities say Lambert barricaded himself inside his apartment, fired at responding officers, and started a fire inside his unit. Police negotiators tried to communicate with him for more than an hour. Officers eventually heard a gunshot inside the apartment. When tactical officers entered, they say they found Lambert dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Police say he had been involved in a long-standing dispute with the Condominium Association and James Stewart, the building's property manager, over alleged mold, moisture, and water damage inside his apartment. Ward Two Council Member Brooke Pinto spoke about the dispute and how the community is now grieving together at tonight's vigil. We have neighbors who've opened up their homes to residents from the Metropole who have been displaced. We have businesses who have been giving away free items. We have had really everybody come together because this is terrible for the victims. It's terrible for everybody who is in Vita. It's terrible for everyone who lives in Metropole. And this entire community. And you can see this entire community coming together right now. This gentleman has on a hooded sweatshirt that reads, Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct your path. That is from Proverbs. So you can see these folks here are praying, paying tribute to the people here. Now, just to let you know, police say that they recovered three guns from inside of the suspect's unit here at this building. It is shut off right now to the residents. Many of them are now living with family, friends, and as Brooke Pinto explained to you, some folks around this neighborhood have opened their homes for some of the people who live in this building who were part of this tragedy that are dealing with it, opened their own homes so they can come and sleep with them in a nice room because it's just so cold out here and it's just a really tough time for the community. I'm Shamari Stone. Back to you. Shamari, thank you. Let's dig deeper into the suspect. Identified as board-certified ER doctor Matthew Lambert, an account believed to be his, posted this morning saying, quote, my manifesto is an engineering report that appears to be tied to a 20-month lawsuit Lambert filed against his condo building, the Metropole, over severe water damage and mold. The attorney who represented Lambert in his ongoing legal battle spoke out tonight. He had just had some new beginnings on the horizon, starting a new job on Monday. It's Sunday. So I'm at a loss for how things took any sort of turn that would have us here today. It is, uh... At least as I understand what's being reported, because I have no first-hand facts, it appears that someone who was also involved with the litigation may have also been affected and may have been a victim of today's violence. Again, there's nothing I can say to justify any actions that took place. Again, the motive for the shooting is still under investigation tonight, but court records show Lambert accused the building of ignoring the issues despite paying a $15,000 assessment with legal battles continuing just weeks ago. Well, in the meantime, dozens of people have been forced out of their homes due to the mass shooting. The city set up a nearby reunification center at the Stead Park Recreation Center. Now, as of this afternoon, some 42 people registered at the center where they are getting food and shelter, but many more have been displaced. We are told that all 75 units in the suspect's condo building have been impacted, have been affected by this. The American Red Cross now offering and resources, including gift cards for those in need. In the wake of this mass shooting, security concerns are being raised. That's right. So joining us now is former FBI agent and criminal justice professor Ken Gray. Thanks so much, Mr. Gray, for joining us tonight. So just looking at the response that we saw today, what would be your initial thought to how things were handled? So this was an incredible response. MPD was on the scene within 30 seconds. All right. They quickly tried to ascertain where the shooter was. This was an active shooter report. This was obviously a targeted attack. The shooter went directly for... The gym there to be able to confront and kill what ended up happening, killing Mr. Stewart there. And then he retreated back to his apartment, seventh floor condo apartment, and then started shooting at people on the street. So as MPD was trying to clear the streets and locate the shooter, they were getting reports of additional people. In addition to MPD being on the scene almost immediately, within 30 seconds, you had federal agents from the FBI, from the Secret Service, you had the Park Police, you had the National Guard, you had an awful lot of... Ken, knowing what we know now about the suspect, does he fit the profile of someone who we should have been concerned about, that law enforcement should have been concerned about and had on their radar? You know, this is not a case where somebody has been leveling threats against somebody for an extended period of time. Instead, he was engaged in a lawsuit. Also, I He had been suing both this individual and also the homeowners association. And so... You know, something going from a legal action into him taking action on his own like this, that's really not something that you can forecast. OK. And as you mentioned, we had multiple agencies responding, right? The FBI, the ATF, MPD taking the lead. Going forward in the next 24 to 48 hours, what would you say we'll likely learn? The biggest thing that we're likely going to learn out of all this, considering the fact that so many different hands were on the investigation. Where does it go from here? So MPD will be the agency that actually continues on with the investigation from here, and they're still involved with taking statements from eyewitnesses, collecting physical evidence there at the crime scene. There's also the autopsy going on. So there are still a lot of... criminal investigation activity going on here. The first responders from other agencies, the ones who got there on the scene to help with the active shooter situation, they've gone back to their agencies. They'll have very little involvement with this, but there is still a lot to be done here. You have the National Guard presence. That was supposed to be a deterrent to any type of action like this, But nonetheless... This was impossible to forecast, so their presence really would not have been a deterrent for a committed shooter like this that was carrying out a personal act. Yeah, still a lot to learn tonight. All right, former FBI agent and criminal justice professor Ken Gray, thank you for your time. We appreciate it. Anytime. OK, time now to check in on that weather right now. Clear, calm night and a cool one at that 55 degrees following a change in the temperature. Mike Thomas, how big do our coats have to be? Oh, they're going to be pretty puffy as we work our way into the weekend coming up here. Get the heaviest sweater ready. I mean, look, we have been waiting for a real taste of like you almost call it fall, early wintertime air. And we're going to get it as we work our way into the upcoming weekend and then through the first part. of next work week as well. 67 today. We actually got it. You know, we had some rain showers if you're up early enough this morning. We got a break and the sun actually came out and when it did come out, it felt nice with a 67 degree day for the kids watching tonight. Six, seven. Yes, I know. 64. Dulles, Baltimore, 65 degrees. Average high this time of year, just 59 across the D.C. area. Live look. Capital Wheel is paused for the remainder of the evening. Not far from there at Reagan National. They're sitting at 55. Dulles, 53. BWI, Thurgood Marshall sitting at 53 degrees as well. All three airports are putting a lot of cloud cover now. Shower wise, not as much as earlier. They had a decent batch go up through northern Virginia across southern Maryland and then the leftovers of it now in southern New Jersey. And heading out to sea, there's a few more showers hitting the mountains back up to the west. And storm system still up there. And it's going to intensify just a bit more as it gets off the New York coastline. Your commanders at the moment have the lead. That's a good thing. And they're dry there in East Rutherford, New Jersey. They're watching this batch of showers slowly working its way through eastern portions of Pennsylvania. We'll see if it makes it there before the game's over. But at its current pace, the game just might escape dry completely up there in New Jersey. So fingers crossed. But weren't they there? Look at all that snow. How about that? Across southern portions of New York. In fact, some heavy amounts. I've already seen some pictures from up there of covered roadways, covered sidewalks, signs of early winter across interior portions of the northeast. Tomorrow here at D.C. And this makes it look like it'll be gray all day. It won't. We'll have the occasional peak of sunshine, but a lot more clouds. And the biggest difference, winds and temperature. Morning, 43 degrees. After a school temperature just 50, which means most of the day spent in the 40s. So not just sweaters at the bus stop tomorrow. Make sure you have them on all day long. Guys. All right, Mike, thank you. Today, D.C. Council pumped the brakes on a bill that would have allowed autonomous vehicles like Waymo to operate in the city by 2028. Supporters say the tech could create jobs. Council members who voted against said they're not against the technology. They just have concerns and don't want to rush. We don't need to and shouldn't beg businesses to be here, but we do have an opportunity before us today to signal that with the right protections in place, the district can be a leader in innovation that treats their workers with dignity. This technology itself still is in the test phase, and D.C. cannot be a guinea pig. As a responsible leader, I cannot support us being a guinea pig because of our unique position. I do want to work with you, and I want my administration to work with you to get deployment right. Waymo is operating in 15 cities, including Atlanta, Dallas, Houston, and L.A. Tomorrow, a federal judge will hear arguments over whether to block the Sunday closure of the East Potomac Golf Links, the Trump administration's pushing for a major overhaul. A separate order remains in place stopping crews from cutting down more trees around Haines Point. The administration claimed the tree cutting was routine maintenance, but the judge didn't buy it, saying it was part of renovations without court review. All right, coming up, what else?