Pinto: Apartment building manager targeted in gym shooting

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 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, 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, 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... Have you ever 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 Vida. And so this is not, as I 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 for watching! I haven't. I'm going to allow the police to share that soon. Do you have an age? Thank you very much. The police will be sharing that very soon. And then just any last thoughts? I know you've said a lot here, but what's your immediate next step? 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. Vida 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 chairs 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 We'll be right back. 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 that 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 those conditions of those people are the ones we're still trying to confirm but council member Pinto saying they are receiving care at this time.