Five people were shot on Thursday morning in a busy Washington, DC neighbourhood about a mile from the White House, and the gunman was later found dead after barricading himself inside a nearby apartment, police said.
The shootings happened at around 8:23 a.m. local time at and outside a Vida Fitness gym near the intersection of 15th and P Streets Northwest in the Logan Circle area, according to the Metropolitan Police Department. One person was killed and four others were taken to hospital, law enforcement sources told NBC News.
Witnesses described a chaotic scene during the morning rush hour. James Spellman, who was inside the gym when the shots rang out, said he heard about two shots inside the building and several more outside. Around 50 people were in the gym at the time, he said. Another nearby resident said he heard about five bangs from his apartment.
Police cordoned off the 1500 block of 15th Street, an area that also includes a church and homes, and urged people to stay away. The suspect, described by police as a heavy-set white man, fled into a building near the gym and barricaded himself inside a seventh-floor apartment. Officers surrounded the building as federal agents joined the response.
After a standoff, police breached the apartment and found the suspect dead. The city's police chief said the man shot himself while trying to resist arrest. Investigators said it was too early to identify a motive, and the suspect, a member of the gym, had not been publicly named.
The FBI's Washington field office, the US Secret Service and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives all sent agents to help local police. The White House, roughly a mile south of the scene, did not immediately comment on the attack.
The shooting is the latest act of gun violence to hit the heart of the US capital, and the investigation remains ongoing as police work to establish what led to the attack.
Sources: Associated Press, Al Jazeera, NBC News, The Times, South China Morning Post.
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