James Stuart, 46, of Northwest Washington, was one of six people shot Thursday in Washington, D.C.’s Logan Circle neighborhood and the only person killed, police said Friday.
A reader who contacted Potomac Local News said Stuart graduated from Osbourn High School in Manassas in 1999. A James Stuart appears in the Class of 1999 in Osbourn’s 1998 yearbook, The Eyrie.
The Metropolitan Police Department identified Stuart as a Northwest D.C. resident and said he was pronounced dead at the scene after being shot inside VIDA Fitness, in the 1500 block of 15th Street NW, at about 7:59 a.m. News outlets and D.C. Councilmember Brooke Pinto have identified him as the property manager of Metropole Condos, the building connected to the gym.
Police said Friday that five other people were wounded in the attack. A written Metropolitan Police update on Thursday said officers located six people with gunshot wounds and that three women and two men, all conscious and breathing, were taken to hospitals.
The New York Post, in a story published early Friday, reported what was known then about four additional people shot after Stuart was killed. Citing Thursday’s police briefing, the Post said Interim Police Chief Jeffery Carroll told reporters that within about five minutes, the gunman wounded four other people — two women and two men — after firing from a seventh-floor patio. The Post reported that those wounded were believed to include multiple construction workers at a job site across the street and another person near the gym’s lobby or alley, according to Carroll.
The Post, citing a source who spoke to NBC4, also reported that one woman was shot in the head and taken to George Washington University Hospital, and that another woman was shot in the arm and taken to Howard University Hospital with two other people who had non-life-threatening injuries. The Post said the identities and current conditions of those four people were not known as of late Thursday night. Police have not publicly released the names of the wounded.
Later Friday morning, multiple news outlets reported that police had confirmed a sixth shooting victim, an adult woman, bringing the number of people wounded to five. A D.C. police spokesperson told WUSA9 the additional victim did not have life-threatening injuries. One of the wounded had earlier been described as being in critical condition.
Police identified the suspect as Matt Wade Lambert, 55, of Northwest D.C., a doctor who lived in the building. Carroll has said police believe the attack was tied to a long-running dispute between Lambert and the condominium association over maintenance issues, including mold, and that Lambert had filed a civil case. Axios, citing court records, reported that Lambert filed a lawsuit in March 2025. City Cast DC reported that court records show Stuart testified in that lawsuit about Lambert’s reports of water intrusion and mold, as well as the management company’s response.
Police said Lambert entered the gym, fatally shot Stuart, returned to his apartment, and fired from a balcony or patio at people at ground level. Carroll has said the shootings themselves likely unfolded in less than five minutes. During a subsequent barricade, police said Lambert fired through the door at officers, none of whom were hurt, broke a gas line at his fireplace and started a fire that sprinklers helped contain. Negotiators were on the phone with him when officers heard a gunshot; he stopped responding, and officers found him with an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, police said. He was later pronounced dead. Police said a shotgun, a rifle and a handgun were found in the apartment and were all used in the shooting, and that none of the firearms were registered to the suspect in the District of Columbia. The case remains under investigation.
EJF Real Estate Services, the company that employed Stuart, said in a statement that it was devastated by his death and called the shooting a “senseless act of violence.” Scott Burka, the company’s president, said Stuart — whom he called Jimmy — “was more than a colleague; he was a part of the fabric of this company,” and that he joined as a property manager 13 years ago. “He was a respected and beloved member of our team,” Burka said. “Our hearts are with his family and everyone who loved him. We will honor Jimmy by caring for one another, friends and family.”
Dozens of people gathered Thursday evening for a candlelight vigil in Logan Circle, leaving flowers and notes outside VIDA Fitness, Axios and WTOP reported. Pinto, who represents the neighborhood, attended. “This morning we believe the suspect walked into VIDA to target somebody that he had been in active litigation with over a condo issue, and it’s just so sad and so senseless to kill someone over a dispute that should be worked out reasonably,” Pinto said, according to NBC4.
Potomac Local News is working to reach family and friends for comment. Funeral arrangements had not been announced as of Friday morning. Anyone with information is asked to call police at (202) 727-9099 or text 50411.
