By Savannah Hulsey Pointer
Contributing Writer
A gunman on Nov. 12 shot five people, killing one, in Washington’s Logan Circle neighborhood before turning the gun on himself.
Police told reporters at around 10.30 a.m. that officers discovered the gunman suffering from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
The neighborhood is within walking distance of the White House.
At around 11 a.m., a barricade around the scene was lifted, but the Metropolitan Police Department asked the public to avoid the area for the time being.
One victim, who was shot at a gym, died from his injuries.
Jeffery W. Carroll, the interim chief of police of the MPD, told reporters that of the four surviving victims, only one had life-threatening injuries.
The suspect was barricaded in the vicinity of the initial shooting, and a SWAT team responded to the area.
A witness, James Spellman, said he heard shots fired shortly after 8 a.m. at the gym, which held about 50 people.
“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.”
According to Spellman, he and others at the gym ran outside, where they heard more gunfire in the area of 15th Street.
Police said the gunman is a white male, and they believe they know who he is and that he had a conflict with the homeowner’s association of the apartment building in which he had barricaded himself.
“They’ve been talking to him for over the past hour again, attempting to try to resolve the situation,” Carroll said.
“Just moments ago, while communicating with that individual, officers heard a gunshot … officers forced entry, and located the suspect suffering from a gunshot wound.”
“We do believe that the suspect is now contained in that location,” the police chief said.
Carroll said that investigation is still ongoing, but that officers have cleared the apartment where the shooter was barricaded.
D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser said she was “devastated” by news of the shooting, saying “someone was killed in our city this morning in a senseless act of gun violence.”
She also confirmed that the White House has been briefed. In response to a question, she said she “praised MPD for bringing down crime in the city, and I praise our prosecutors.”
“I am very grateful to MPD and fire and EMS who responded immediately, quickly, and contained this situation,” Bowser said.
