What court documents reveal about DC shooting suspect's HOA issues - USA Today

WASHINGTON – As police investigate why a board-certified emergency physician might have opened fire in a Washington, DC, neighborhood Nov. 12, they pointed to a lawsuit against his homeowners association as potentially playing a role. 

Police said Matt Wade Lambert, a 55-year-old healthcare professional, shot and killed his building manager, James Stuart, in a DC gym before barricading himself inside his apartment and shooting four additional people from his patio early in the morning on Nov. 12. Lambert also shot and killed himself, police said.  

One of the shooting victims remains in critical condition, while the other three do not have life threatening injuries, police said.

Those who knew Lambert said they were shocked. His professional acquaintances described Lambert as a “genuine” and “good” person in conversations with USA TODAY. His attorney, Joel Braithwaite, said during a news conference that life appeared to be looking up for Lambert before the shooting, noting that he was scheduled to begin a new job Nov. 16. 

Braithwaite said Lambert gave no indication that he was at a breaking point during a phone conversation they had Nov. 10.  

Lambert, who worked as a consultant for healthcare administrators, had spoken at a conference in Orlando, earlier in the week. Craig Hauben, a fellow panelist at the event and the CEO of the software development firm Clutch, said Lambert seemed “jovial” at the time. He did not mention anything about ongoing litigation with his building, Hauben said.  

Court documents reveal Lambert has been enmeshed in litigation with his condo association since 2025 over water damage and black mold in his unit that he said stemmed from construction to the building.  

Back in March 2023, the HOA began work on the condo's façade to remediate the building envelope, according to a court filing by Lambert against the Metropole Condominium Association on March 21, 2025. Between May 2023 and April 2024, Lambert paid the association’s special assessment for the building envelope remediation that totaled $15,356.95, according to court documents. 

During the construction, Lambert said his “unit experienced suspected water intrusion, mold, significant moisture accumulation, and/or related damage,” according to the March 21, 2025 court filing. 

Lambert said he communicated to the association that there were instances of water intrusion in his unit in March 2024. A hole was cut into the drywall in Lambert’s residence in August 2024 to investigate whether water was running behind the wall, according to court filings. 

By September 2024, Lambert alleged in court documents that there was excess moisture being collected behind the drywall and his electrical curtains had stopped working. He also said that same month that mold was visible and detectable by smell, according to the court filings. 

He retained mold remediation expert ServPro on Sept. 20, 2024 to conduct an assessment of suspected mold that was visible from the hole that building officials cut above his windows back in August 2024. The inspection said: “Visible mold contamination was observed on exterior and interior walls, due to possible water intrusion,” according to an excerpt included in the filings.  

Lambert on Oct. 9, 2024 asked the Metropole Condominium Association to take action against the mold and excess moisture based on the independent inspections, as well as provide reimbursement for the costs of the assessments. 

Lambert said in court documents that he incurred expenses in excess of $82,000 "as a result of Defendant’s inaction to remedy any of the effect of its building envelope repair on Unit 704."

Later in October 2024, Lambert and the condo association traded letters over the repairs that Lambert was going to do and whether he would be refunded by the group.

The back-and-forth between Lambert and the condo association spiraled into a more than yearlong legal battle that included Stuart, the building manager, as a witness, as well as VIDA Fitness as a defendant.

According to court documents, VIDA, located on the ground floor of the condo building, would use commercial dryers that Lambert alleged would “discharge warm, moist air that is vented up through a mechanical shaft to a dryer vent fan on the roof.” An engineering consulting firm hired by another plaintiff found that the elevated moisture levels in Lambert’s apartment were likely caused by the dryers, according to the court filing.

USA TODAY could not immediately reach the attorneys for the condo association or VIDA Fitness.

Braithwaite said he does not know what might have triggered Lambert ahead of the shooting. He noted it was the anniversary of when Lambert buried his mother.

“I don't think there's any sense to be made,” Braithwaite said. “There's nothing that I can say from my mind that brings any closure to it.”