DC Doctor Kills Building Manager in Gym Over Maintenance Dispute
A 55-year-old physician opened fire at a Logan Circle gym and his apartment balcony, killing the property manager and injuring four others.
By Naomi Tesfaye ·
A shooting at a Washington, D.C. gym early Thursday morning left two people dead, including the gunman, according to police.
Interim Metropolitan Police Chief Jeff Carroll said the incident stemmed from a dispute over building maintenance. The conflict involved mold, water leaks, and a civil lawsuit filed by the suspect against the building administration.
James Stuart, 46, was identified as the building manager who died in the shooting. The suspect, Dr. Matt Wade Lambert, 55, was a resident of the same northwest neighborhood. Four other people were injured during the attack. One victim was in critical condition, while the other three sustained non-life-threatening injuries.
Lambert began the attack inside VIDA Fitness in the Logan Circle neighborhood. Police received initial reports just before 8 a.m. He then returned to his seventh-floor apartment in the adjacent building. From a balcony, he fired at four people on the street below. Carroll noted that the distance between the gym entrance and the residential area was only about 20 steps. The entire sequence of attacks lasted less than five minutes.
Investigators recovered three firearms from Lambert's apartment: a pistol, a rifle, and a shotgun. Carroll stated that Lambert appeared to have a certain level of planning behind the attack. Police confirmed that Lambert did not have registered firearms in D.C. and are still determining how he obtained them.
Lambert's attorney, Joel Braithwaite, said his client had spent more than $300,000 on maintenance repairs and legal fees related to the dispute. Lambert had purchased the apartment for over $1 million in 2016. Braithwaite said Stuart was a key witness in the civil case and played a significant role in communicating with the homeowners association board.
The lawyer spoke with Lambert between 24 and 48 hours before the shooting. He described the emergency room physician as calm and serene, noting that Lambert had started a new job that Monday. Braithwaite said he did not know his client owned firearms. He expressed surprise at the violence, stating that these matters should have been resolved in court.
Police found Lambert dead in his apartment with a self-inflicted gunshot wound after breaching the unit. A social media account linked to Lambert contained posts complaining about mold, rodents, and water damage in the building dating back to October 2025. The most recent post was published around the time of the shooting.
