On a Thursday morning in Washington's Logan Circle, a few blocks from the White House, an ordinary building of condominiums became the scene of a grief no one had expected. A physician who had spent a long quarrel with his own condo association over water damage and mold is said to have turned his anger first on the building manager, then on strangers below, before taking his own life inside a burning unit. It is the old story of a private injury that festers until it finds a public outlet, and of a community left to ask how a neighbor they thought they knew could become something else. The de
Doctor Angry Over Condo Repairs Kills Building Manager, Wounds Four Near White House Before Dying by Suicide
James Stuart, 46, the building manager, was killed; four others were wounded, one in critical condition, and residents were left shaken.
"I don't know why he let me live," she said. "I was a foot away from him."
Mark
Why did this one land so hard in a neighborhood like Logan Circle?
Mimi
It's an ordinary place, ground-floor coffee shops, a gym, people heading to work. The attack started in a gym and ended on the sidewalks, less than a mile from the White House.
Mark
Kathryn Ghotbi's account is striking.
Mimi
She smiled at him, thinking the alarm was a false one. He told her to run the other way, then shot at the elevator buttons. She still doesn't understand why she was spared.
Luke
Worth noting that's her account alone. Nobody has explained why he let her go, and nobody can now.
Mark
Police say the condo dispute was behind it.
Mimi
Authorities said it stemmed from the conflict with the condo association. He had sued last year over shoddy exterior repairs and mold.
Luke
The lawsuit claims are his allegations in a complaint, not findings. And what we know of his motive is what officials say, not what he said.
Mark
His lawyer described a man in good spirits.
Mimi
A good case, a successful conference talk, a new job Monday. Neighbors called him friendly.
Luke
That cuts against any simple story. We don't yet know how long he planned it or why that morning. Investigators are still looking.
Mark
And the victims?
Mimi
James Stuart, 46, was killed. Four others were wounded, one critically. Police don't know if any of them were targeted.
Der Puls
- A fire alarm at dawn turned a routine morning into a chase through a Washington condominium building.
- The gunman, a neighbor with a grievance against the condo association, moved from a gym killing to a balcony barrage.
- Four people on the street below were struck, and one remains in critical condition as doctors fight for her.
- Police pinned the shooter in his apartment, but sprinklers and a cut gas line turned the standoff into a fire and then a self-inflicted death.
- Investigators are now tracing how three unregistered guns were assembled and whether the attack was planned long before dawn.
On a Thursday morning in Washington's Logan Circle, a few blocks from the White House, an ordinary building of condominiums became the scene of a grief no one had expected. A physician who had spent a long quarrel with his own condo association over water damage and mold is said to have turned his anger first on the building manager, then on strangers below, before taking his own life inside a burning unit. It is the old story of a private injury that festers until it finds a public outlet, and of a community left to ask how a neighbor they thought they knew could become something else. The dead man was a manager who had worked the gym floor for years, and the living are left with the quiet, unanswerable question of why they were spared.
Before eight on Thursday morning, a fire alarm rang through the Metropole, a condominium complex in Washington's Logan Circle, less than a mile from the White House. Kathryn Ghotbi, 33, grabbed her coffee and headed for the elevators, assuming it was a false alarm. A neighbor she knew only by sight came toward her, calm and unhurried. She smiled at him, a small gesture of shared circumstance. Then she saw the shotgun in his hands.
The man was Dr. Matthew Wade Lambert, 55, an emergency physician and health care technology executive. Police say the violence began earlier at the VIDA Fitness gym on the ground floor, where Lambert shot and killed the building manager, James Stuart, 46, known as Jimmy. Lambert then returned to his seventh-floor unit and fired from his balcony at people on the street below.
Ghotbi later recalled Lambert telling her to run the other way. He shot at the elevator buttons, and she fled down the stairs, warning neighbors on the ground floor. Outside, believing she was safe, she heard gunfire. "I was a foot away from him," she said through tears. "I don't know why he let me live."
Police say Lambert barricaded himself, fired at officers through his door, cut a gas line and set a fire that sprinklers helped contain. Negotiators heard a single gunshot and lost contact. He was found dead, self-inflicted. The four people wounded on the street were struck by a rifle from his patio. One remains in critical condition; the others are not life-threatening.
The dispute behind it was not hidden. Last year Lambert sued the condo association, alleging shoddy exterior repairs and mold from leaking water. Neighbors said he had been vocal about his grievances. His lawyer described a man in good spirits, recently successful at a medical conference and about to start a job in artificial intelligence for health care, and spoke of litigation's toll that is not always visible. A next-door neighbor called him warm and generous, someone who had done medical volunteer work abroad. "Never in a million years would I have imagined he would do this," he said.
Stuart had belonged to the gym for fifteen years and trained there every morning. Matt Cahill, who had dated him in 2023, remembered a good listener and a generous cook who loved Christmas. Across the neighborhood, the response was enormous: dozens of police vehicles, SWAT teams, helicopters, snipers on a nearby roof, and a shelter-in-place alert. Residents are still processing what happened. "I think we're going to be shaken for a while," one neighbor said. Investigators are still piecing together how the attack was planned and how deep the condo dispute ran.
Before 8 a.m. on Thursday, a fire alarm sounded in the Metropole, a condominium complex in Washington's Logan Circle neighborhood, less than a mile from the White House. Kathryn Ghotbi, 33, grabbed her coffee and walked to the elevators on her floor, assuming it was a false alarm. A neighbor she knew only by sight walked slowly and calmly toward her. She smiled at him, a small gesture meant to say they were all in this together. Then she saw what he was carrying. It was a shotgun.
The man was Dr. Matthew Wade Lambert, 55, an emergency medicine physician and health care tech executive. According to Jeff Carroll, the city's interim police chief, the violence had started earlier, at the VIDA Fitness gym on the ground floor of the building, where Lambert shot and killed the building manager. That man was James Stuart, 46, known as Jimmy. Lambert then went back to his unit on the seventh floor and, from his balcony, shot four people on the streets below.
Ghotbi said Lambert told her, "You should probably run in the other direction." He then fired at the elevator buttons and above the elevator bank. She screamed, asking what he was doing, and ran for the stairs. At the ground floor she shouted to neighbors that there was a shooter in the building. Outside, thinking she was safe, she heard gunfire on the street. "I don't know why he let me live," she said, crying. "I was a foot away from him."
Police said Lambert barricaded himself in his condo and fired at officers through his own door. He cut a gas line and used an accelerant to start a fire, setting off smoke alarms and sprinklers. Flames were visible from outside, but Carroll said the sprinklers helped keep the fire from spreading. Hostage negotiators had been speaking with Lambert by phone when they heard a single gunshot and lost contact. He was found dead in the unit of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Police said he used three guns, a handgun, a rifle and a shotgun, none registered in the District. The four people on the street were shot with the rifle from his patio.
Of those four, two were men and two were women, and Carroll said it was unclear whether Lambert had targeted any of them. One was in critical condition; the others had injuries that were not life-threatening. Susan Thurston-Hamerski was shot while walking her daughter's dog, her son, Samuel Hamerski, said. Her injuries were not life-threatening.
Authorities said the shooting grew out of a conflict between Lambert and his building's condominium association. Last year he sued the association, claiming exterior repair work had been done shoddily and that leaking water had left his unit with mold, according to a civil complaint. Two seventh-floor neighbors said he had been vocal about his complaints. "Everybody is aware of the problems he was having in his apartment," said Francesco Grigoli, a resident who was traveling Thursday.
Lambert's lawyer, Joel Brathwaite, told a news conference that his client had seemed in good spirits. The case was going well with depositions, Lambert had given a successful presentation at a medical conference Tuesday, and he was due to start a new job Monday, working on integrating artificial intelligence into health care systems. "This is a healer, someone who puts people together," Brathwaite said, adding, "Litigation wears on you. It takes a toll and some of it is not always visible." Nick Ryan, the next-door neighbor, described Lambert as warm and friendly, someone who did international medical volunteer work. "Never in a million years would I have imagined he would do this," he said.
Stuart had been a member of the gym for 15 years and worked out at 7 a.m. regularly, said owner David von Storch. Lambert was also a member and checked in as usual that morning before shooting him, von Storch said in a text message. Matt Cahill, 38, a stylist at Bang Salon in the Metropole complex, dated Stuart in 2023. He remembered Stuart as a good listener, a stellar cook and a lover of Christmas, and recalled him holding up a sign at the salon, a "Love Actually"-inspired surprise, on Cahill's birthday.
The response was large. Dozens of law enforcement vehicles, some from federal agencies, converged, SWAT units blocked streets, and a cellphone alert told people to shelter in place. Helicopters circled and snipers appeared on a nearby roof. Suzanne Garwood, 55, a lawyer from Arlington, Va., heard an enormous bang in the gym locker room and smelled gun smoke outside it. Staff led her out a side door, and she later sheltered with about a dozen gym members in an apartment building. "I think we're going to be shaken for a while," Ryan said. Investigators are still examining the planning behind the attack and the condo dispute.
Bemerkenswerte Zitate
I don't know why he let me live. I was a foot away from him.— Kathryn Ghotbi, resident
Litigation wears on you. It takes a toll and some of it is not always visible.— Joel Brathwaite, Lambert's lawyer
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