Susan Hamerski was walking her dog during the Nov. 12, 2026, mass shooting in Washington, D.C.’s Logan Circle neighborhood when gunman Matt Lambert opened fire, according to Tina Wilcox.
Hamerski suffered serious wounds and is in stable condition at a hospital, though she cannot speak, Wilcox told The Washington Post. When loved ones asked what she wanted the world to know, Hamerski picked up a notepad and wrote, “Gun control is public health,” Wilcox said, according to The Independent.
The violence began just before 8 a.m. on Thursday, Nov. 12, 2026. Matt Lambert fatally shot James Stuart inside a gym, according to Metropolitan Police Department Interim Chief Jeffery Carroll.
Stuart was 46 and worked as a Metropole building manager. Lambert was 55.
“Lambert reached out in late 2025 … pitching a story about how his million-dollar Logan Circle penthouse had been rendered unlivable … but the article was abandoned when I was laid off from the Post in early 2026.” What the Logan Circle Shooter Told Mehttps://t.co/uLYvKfUQ7E
The shooting took place inside the ground-floor VIDA Fitness gym on 15th Street Northwest. Lambert lay in wait for nearly an hour before the shooting, police said, locked in a bitter legal dispute with his condo association over water damage and mold in his penthouse.
After killing Stuart, Lambert returned to his seventh-floor unit. He fired a rifle from his balcony, wounding five people on the street below, including Hamerski. He died by suicide following a standoff with police and negotiators, authorities said.
Charelle Ferguson told The Washington Post that Lambert confessed to her during a phone call after the shooting.
Lawsuits Expose Condo Dispute
Court records show Lambert sued the Metropole Condominium Association in March 2025. He alleged facade remediation work completed in August 2024 caused severe water leaks and black mold. The mold rendered his $1.1 million penthouse unlivable. It cost him more than $300,000 in legal expenses and drained his retirement savings.
Obsessing over his condo building's problems, the D. C. Logan Circle shooter made a dark offhand reference to Luigi Mangione last year. @TheArtist_MBS happened to be interviewing him at the time. Remarkable stuff: https://t.co/iRtgfVbZeI
The Logan Circle neighborhood sits about one mile north of the White House along 15th Street Northwest. Bustling morning crowds ran for cover as emergency services, FBI agents, and SWAT teams swarmed the area following initial calls for help at 8 a.m.
Interim Police Chief Jeffery Carroll reported that officers and emergency responders arrived on the scene within 30 seconds of the first emergency call.
Michael Brice-Saddler (@TheArtist_MBS), a prize-winning reporter for the @washingtonpost, talked repeatedly with today's shooter for a story — but then got laid off before he could write it. Now at the @washingtonsun he tells the story he couldn't before. https://t.co/0PqQjLRtvm
“We do believe he plotted this,” interim D.C. police chief Jeffery Carroll said.
Witnesses inside the VIDA Fitness center described chaotic scenes as roughly 50 people were inside when the gunfire erupted. The gym requires visitors to tap in to gain entry.
James Spellman recounted hearing initial pops before seeing a man fall to the ground with a pool of blood. Another witness described seeing someone in a chair collapse with blood coming from his head.
Outside the facility, Oscar Vasquez heard the building’s fire alarms blaring. Crowds of panicked people ran outside and sought shelter in patio chairs. Vasquez is the manager of the neighboring Call Your Mother deli.
Lambert retreated to his penthouse apartment and barricaded himself inside after the gym attack. Police negotiators maintained phone contact with him for over an hour. Authorities reported hearing a single gunshot before forcing entry and finding the suspect dead from a self-inflicted wound.
Investigators noted that the entire outdoor shooting spree from the patio lasted less than five minutes. It involved three firearms.
Mayor Muriel Bowser expressed her devastation over the tragedy.
“focus right now is on Jimmy's family, the others who were injured, and the residents of the Metropole,” EJF president Scott Burka said.
“If you want to see the building manager, he comes in the gym about 8 o’clock,” Lambert told a neighbor months before the shooting, according to reporter Michael Brice-Saddler, as reported by Yahoo News.
Joel Braithwaite told reporters that Stuart was a central fact witness in the ongoing litigation. Braithwaite is an attorney representing Lambert in the civil matter.
LIVE: Mayor Bowser and MPD Provide Update on Shooting at 15th and P St NW in Washington, DC https://t.co/DLqglhvrCK
“Four people were wounded. One person lost his life. And ultimately these matters should have been resolved in court,” Braithwaite said, according to Yahoo News.
David von Storch said Stuart was a 15-year member of the gym and deeply loved by staff and members, calling the tragedy heartbreaking, according to NBC4 Washington.
Hamerski has passed the life-threatening stage of her recovery, Wilcox told The Independent.
