At least five people shot in DC neighbourhood near the White House

Five people were shot Thursday in a trendy Washington, DC neighbourhood within walking distance of the White House, police said, and a swarm of officers responded to a nearby apartment building where a suspect was barricaded.

The suspect, who later shot himself, is believed to have been in conflict with the building homeowners' association.

At least one person shot at a gym died in a pool of blood, a witness said.

The shootings were reported in Logan Circle, about 1 mile north of the White House. Police urged people to avoid the area of the 1500 block of 15th Street, which includes a VIDA fitness centre, St. Luke's Episcopal Church and residences and is around the corner from a Whole Foods supermarket. Much of the block was cordoned off. Schools near the scene were placed on lockdown.

Law enforcement SWAT teams and other officers had their guns drawn on the roof of an apartment building or on the ground below.

Authorities believe the suspect shot at least one person inside the gym before going outside and firing again, according to a law enforcement official who was not authorised to publicly discuss the investigation and spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity.

Law enforcement agents believe the suspect shot another person in a parking garage elevator and then barricaded himself on the seventh floor of the building, the official said.

James Spellman was at the gym a little after 8am when he heard shots being fired. He said there were about 50 people in the gym at the time.

“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.”

Spellman said he and other gym members ran out of the gym, and he said he heard more gunfire in the area of 15th Street. He said he heard about two shots fired in the gym and about five or six fired outside.

Streets around the area also were blocked off during a massive police response. The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said it sent agents to the scene to help. And the FBI said its Washington field office was helping local police with the investigation.

Witness Ryan Dubicki was in his nearby apartment around 8am when, he said, he “heard about five bangs”.

"They were really spread out so I thought it was construction,” he said. It was only a short time later that he looked out “and there were cops everywhere.”

His apartment building managers sent a notice that there was a possible active shooter.

The neighbourhood has seen violence before. In early August 2025, a onetime member of President Donald Trump's Department of Government Efficiency was assaulted early on a Sunday morning in the Logan Circle neighbourhood by a group of teenagers attempting to carjack him and a woman, authorities said.

Days later, Trump fulfilled his threat to bypass local authority and imposed direct federal control over the city, sending in hundreds of National Guard members to reduce crime. That deployment continues today.

(FRANCE 24 with AP)