The doctor accused of shooting his building manager at a luxury Washington, DC, condominium made a chilling admission shortly afterward.
Dr. Matt Lambert, 55, fatally shot James Stuart, 46, in the back inside Vida Fitness in Logan Circle at about 8 a.m. Thursday. Four other people were also injured.
Charelle Ferguson, a building manager at the Metropole condominiums, told The Washington Post that she heard the gunfire before seeing people scream and flee. One bystander shouted: “Somebody was shot in the head.”
Ferguson said she ushered frightened residents into her office and began calling people she knew who lived in the building—including Lambert, who answered at about 9 a.m.
When she asked whether he was safe, Ferguson said Lambert told her he was fed up with mold and water damage in his unit, which he claimed had made the apartment uninhabitable.
“The only way people will pay attention, you have to do something,” Ferguson recalled him saying.
Lambert then admitted that he had shot five people, including one of Ferguson’s co-workers, she said.
“I couldn’t believe what I was hearing,” Ferguson said. “I tried to calm myself down, get as much information from him as possible and keep him on the phone.”
Dr. Matt Lambert, 55, allegedly shot his building manager at a luxury Washington, DC, condominium Thursday morning amid a long-running dispute over mold in his unit
James Stuart, 46, was shot in the back inside Vida Fitness in Logan Circle at about 8 a.m. Images via James Stuart/Facebook
Lambert had barricaded himself inside his penthouse apartment at 1515 15th Street, above the gym.
While inside, he activated the sprinkler system, started a fire and complained during calls with a neighbor, another property manager and police negotiators about his dispute with the building.
He also fired from his balcony at four people on the ground, injuring them, before eventually turning the gun on himself.
Police said at least one of the injured victims was in critical condition, while the other three suffered non-life-threatening injuries.
Officers forced their way into the building, where Lambert reportedly fired at police twice through the door.
Negotiators spoke with him through the apartment door for about an hour before hearing a gunshot.
Authorities entered and found Lambert suffering from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
They also found three firearms—a pistol, shotgun and rifle—none of which were registered to Lambert.
Lambert was later revealed to have been engaged in a lengthy dispute with the Metropole Condominium Association, which operates the luxury residential tower on 15th Street near Logan Circle.
Lambert barricaded himself inside an apartment after allegedly killing a man at a nearby gym and injuring four others
Local and federal law enforcement officers responded to the scene Thursday
The shooting took place less than a mile from the White House
In a lawsuit and in detailed posts on his X account, Lambert claimed that the Metropole and its building contractors, EJF Real Estate Services, caused $290,000 in water damage and resulting mold during facade renovations.
Lambert’s final post, published at 8:06 a.m. while he was believed to be inside the apartment, read: “My manifesto is an engineering report.”
He attached a screenshot from a CED Technologies report that appeared to support his claims, along with what appeared to be a record of reported building problems.
One day before the shooting, Lambert claimed on social media that the dispute had left him without “a shower, dryer, HVAC, and cooking” for six months.
In another disturbing post on April 28, Lambert appeared to predict the attack while responding to a resident’s complaint about a lack of hot water.
“If you’re looking for the building manager, I would check the gym,” he wrote.
The interior of Lambert’s apartment in November 2024, after he vacated it and workers removed sections of the walls and floors to investigate water damage and mold
Lambert posted this November 2024 photograph showing workers dismantling the walls in his apartment one day before the shooting
In an interview last December with then-Washington Post reporter Michael Brice-Saddler, Lambert said the continuing mold dispute had “affected every part of my life—my sleep, dietary habits.”
He referred to Sun Tzu’s The Art of War, saying he experienced “every emotion every day” because of the dispute.
“Do I keep fighting? Do I not fight?” he asked rhetorically. “And The Art of War talks about, you know, the battle’s won before it’s ever fought. It says if you’re going to commit, don’t half commit, fully commit.”
The interview took place as Lambert was suing the homeowners association over alleged black mold and other problems at his condominium.
“They’re trying to make me quit,” he told Brice-Saddler, who wrote about the interview for the Washington Sun. “They’re trying to make me go broke.”
Police gathered outside the VIDA Fitness gym, where Stuart was killed
National Guard members were seen on a balcony of a nearby building across from the location where the shooter was barricaded
Police escorted witnesses and residents back into the building after Thursday’s rampage
Lambert began documenting his dispute with the Metropole in October 2025, posting hundreds of photographs, documents and complaints.
His grievances extended beyond the alleged water damage in his apartment to other problems involving the building and its operations.
In a lawsuit filed in March 2025, Lambert claimed that “suspected water intrusion, mold, significant moisture accumulation, and/or related damage” resulted directly from facade work the Metropole began in March 2023.
He said that before the renovation, his apartment had “no significant water intrusion, mold, moldy smells, moisture accumulation, or related damage.”
The Metropole and EJF Real Estate Services denied responsibility, arguing that third parties beyond their control caused the damage and that Lambert should have taken greater steps to prevent it.
According to the lawsuit, Lambert, who owned the condominium, paid the Metropole $15,357 toward the facade work before noticing damage in March 2024.
Armed U.S. Marshals officers responded to the shooting scene
He reported the first “water intrusion” after the Metropole had actively sought reports from residents when the renovation began.
The Metropole did not cut into Lambert’s drywall to check for water behind the wall until August 2024.
By the following month, the electric blind beneath the opening had stopped working and foul-smelling mold had appeared in the area.
Lambert’s lawsuit claimed the Metropole denied that mold was present and attempted to close the opening while disregarding his complaints.
He said two independent assessments “confirmed that substantial moisture continues to accumulate in key areas of the unit, including the cement ceiling, soffit, baseboards, windowsills, and exterior walls.”
Lambert formally asked the Metropole to repair the damage in accordance with the assessors’ recommendations and reimburse him for his expenses.
The lawsuit alleged that the Metropole failed to fulfill those requests despite receiving extensive photographic evidence.
“[Metropole’s] work caused a moisture-saturated ceiling, mold-covered external walls, and moisture-saturated floorboards under the windows, corrosion of metal surfaces under the drywall,” the lawsuit claimed.
Bullet holes were visible in the condominium building after the shooting
The Metropole wrote to Lambert on October 21, 2024, promising to work with him to resolve the problems, but he claimed that never happened.
By November 11, Lambert said he had given up and hired a contractor to remove the “moisture-saturated” walls and rotted floors.
He claimed the work revealed additional black mold and leaking pipes that were worsening the damage.
Officials have acknowledged that the suspect was involved in a dispute with his homeowners association before the shooting.
“We do know there was a conflict between him and the homeowners association of that building, but at this point we’re continuing to look into that,” Metropolitan Police Chief Jeffery Carroll said at a news conference.
This is a breaking news story and will be updated.