A gunman shot dead one person and wounded four others at a gym in Washington, DC, on Thursday morning, then barricaded himself inside a flat in a nearby apartment building, police said, Reuters reported.
Police negotiators were able to open a dialogue with the suspect in a seventh-floor flat, Metropolitan Police interim chief JW Carroll told reporters. After about an hour, officers heard a gunshot, forced their way in and found the suspect with a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
His condition was not immediately clear, but NBC and Fox News reported that he had died, citing unnamed law enforcement sources. Carroll said police believe the man lived in the flat and was a member of the gym where the attack began.
One of the four wounded is in a critical condition, Carroll said. Police did not identify the suspect or the person who was killed, and investigators are working to establish a motive.
The shooting began just before 8am ET (1300 GMT). Officers arrived within 30 seconds and found an adult man who had been shot, Carroll said. Police were clearing a nearby apartment building when gunshots were heard on the seventh floor, where the suspect had barricaded himself.
Large numbers of officers in tactical gear flooded the Logan Circle neighbourhood, about a mile (1.6km) northeast of the White House.
A man who said he witnessed the shooting told Reuters he heard gunshots and saw one man run to another who appeared to have been hit. “Blood was pouring immediately, and he said, ‘He’s dead,’” the witness said. He said people ran from the gym, unsure whether the gunman was still there, and that he heard more gunshots after leaving.
(Reuters)
