OMM Newsroom
One person was killed and four others were injured when a gunman opened fire inside a gym in an apartment building in Washington DC, according to the BBC.
The shooting began on Thursday morning local time in the Logan Circle neighbourhood, about a mile (1.6km) north of the White House.
Police said the suspect, described as a white male, barricaded himself inside one of the apartments. Officers later confirmed he had died.
One of the injured people is in critical condition; the other three have injuries that are not life-threatening.
Suspect fired at officers, police say
Jefferey Carroll, interim chief of the Metropolitan Police Department, said at a news conference that the suspect fired through the apartment door at officers at least twice while barricaded inside.
Negotiators had been speaking with the suspect by phone when they heard a gunshot and he stopped communicating, Carroll said.
Officers forced their way into the apartment and found the suspect with what appeared to be a “self-inflicted gunshot wound”, Carroll said. He added that police believe a fire had been set and that it had been contained.
Authorities are working to establish the exact timeline of events, the suspect’s motive and other details.
Washington DC Mayor Muriel Bowser called the shooting a “senseless act of gun violence” and said the White House had been briefed.
Witnesses describe fleeing the building
Jonathan Csapo, a BBC producer who lives in the building, said a fire alarm sounded. As he came out of a fire escape, he heard gunshots nearby.
“I could see the smoke, I could see the flash. We just all started running. That was our first instinct,” he said. “We immediately ran and took cover behind a barricade, a little brick structure just near the building.”
Csapo said a building manager then took him back inside to a safe room. “And then everybody started screaming,” he said.
Michael Carney told the Washington Sun that he was using a treadmill at the Vida Fitness gym when the shooting started. He heard “one pop”, which he thought was an exercise ball bursting, before seeing a person who had been shot on the floor.
“Everyone was kind of just hiding behind planters and stuff,” he said, adding that someone pulled a fire alarm.
After leaving the gym, Carney said he heard five or 10 shots that seemed to come from a nearby alley.
Another witness told the Washington Sun she heard “an enormous, loud thing” in the fitness centre and more shots outside after people were evacuated.
“I thought something had crashed or fallen,” she said. “I didn’t know it was a gunshot until later.”
