An emergency-room doctor has been named as the gunman who shot dead one person and wounded four others in Washington DC, reportedly doing so as a culmination of a long-running legal dispute with his apartment block managers.
Both local and federal law enforcement responded to reports of an active shooting on Thursday (early Friday morning AEDT) in the US capital.
Dr Matthew Lambert has been identified as a gunman who shot one person dead and wounded four more in Washington, DC. Supplied
Local and Federal law enforcement and emergency responders, are seen responding to reports of an active shooting investigation, Thursday, Nov. 12, 2026, in Washington AP Photo/Tom Brenner
It’s believed the gunman, since identified as Dr Matt Lambert, shot one man inside the VIDA Fitness Centre in a Logan Circle neighbourhood about 1.6km from the White House, before leaving the gym and continuing shooting, hitting others.
One of the wounded remains in critical condition.
It’s understood Lambert later fatally shot himself while inside his barricaded apartment, while on the phone with police negotiators.
Lambert, an emergency room physician with decades of experience who claimed on his website to have volunteered as a medical worker in Haiti, Belize, and Kenya,was deeply upset with his condo building’s management.
He filed a lawsuit last year, alleging that he hadn’t been able to use his penthouse since 2024 because of mould, moisture and water problems. He claimed the problems began after a contractor had worked on the building’s exterior.
The litigation was ongoing, with mediation scheduled for next March, according to court filings. Lambert appeared to share his condo woes, including photos and an engineering report, on an X site titled OfMiceandMold.
Metropolitan Police Department interim Chief Jeffery W. Carroll (speaking) said the white male suspect was “contained” and is believed to have shot himself but would not go into further details. AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais
At about the time the shooting started, a post went up on the account reading “my manifesto is an engineering report”, linking out to a lengthy report on conditions in Lambert’s apartment.
Police negotiators spoke to the gunman for an hour in an effort to end the armed standoff, Metropolitan Police Department Interim Chief Jeffery Carroll said, but the shooter fired his weapon at officers “at least on two occasions”.
The building was evacuated during the police operation, with residents telling CNN they had overheard some of the exchange between Lambert and the police.
One of the witnesses, Sean McClafferty, who lives in the Metropole, says he was standing with the building’s concierge a block away when the concierge received a phone call from Lambert.
“Essentially, he told our concierge, ‘This is what I need to do to get attention’,” McClafferty said.
A second witness, who asked not to be named, said he heard Lambert say over the phone that this was how he decided to resolve his dispute with the building’s board.
The gunman shot one person inside a gym, according to multiple law enforcement sources. AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson
Lambert bought his 1200-square-foot (111-square-metre) unit for just over $US1 million ($1.47 million) in 2016, property records show.
According to Lambert’s lawsuit, his unit experienced damage from “suspected water intrusion, mould, (and) significant moisture accumulation” caused by work to renovate the building’s façade starting in 2023.
By September 2024, the unit was showing signs of water damage, but the condo association denied that mould was present and was “ignoring Plaintiff’s very real mould complaints,” the lawsuit stated.
In November 2024, Lambert hired a company to remove the unit’s mould-contaminated walls and flooring.
He said in the lawsuit that he avoided using his shower or HVAC system for six months, but the unit continued to experience excessive moisture.
The suspect then left the gym and kept shooting while outside, including into a parking garage, the sources said. AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson
Lambert also hired a firm to conduct further testing in May, which identified “microbial contamination and/or mould growth” in the unit, according to court documents.
Lambert had spent more than $US290,000 ($426,072) investigating and responding to the damage as of May, according to the complaint.
In court documents, the condo association and its property management company denied some of Lambert’s claims and argued that the association “did not cause the Plaintiff’s alleged injuries and damages”.
The case was scheduled to go to a mediation session in March 2027, court records show.
An attorney who had represented Lambert in his lawsuit against the condo association described his client in an interview with CNN as calm, conscientious, and nonviolent, and expressed shock at the idea that he was responsible for the shooting.
That attorney added he thought the lawsuit had been going well.
James Spellman, who was at the VIDA Fitness Centre, said there were about 50 people there when the shooting began.
“Within seconds there was a man who fell to the ground, and a pool of blood came out,” he said.
“One gym member rushed to help him. He was instantly dead. He had been shot in the neck.”
Anthony Mirones was in the gym’s cardio area when he heard a loud bang and thought something fell off the wall. He said someone was trying to help the wounded man but then a fire alarm…
