Former police commander weighs in on DC gym shooting

We're following a developing situation in Washington, D.C. Police say that five people were inside a gym when they were shot this morning. Not too far from the White House, at least one person died. We're told that the suspect later barricaded himself inside an apartment and shot himself. And that he may have been in conflict with his homeowners association before all this unfolded. So joining us now to talk about this and kind of... Understand what the investigation is and where it's going. We do have former Novi Police Commander Jason Meyer. Jason, it's good to see you. How are you doing? Good to see you again, too, Brandon. I'm doing well. Thank you. So I know that you've been following this situation as it had been unfolding this morning. But when you think of a gym, it's another soft target shooting. But from what you have seen with this investigation so far and how police have been handling it, what's your assessment? Yeah, I think they did everything the right way. Obviously, when you have an active shooter situation, the police are trained, their first instinct is to go in and end the threat. But once that threat has been barricaded and the active shooting has ceased, you treat it as a barricaded situation. So I'm sure more details will come out as to the motive behind it, but I thought the police response was very well and very good. So look, the shooter has shot himself. But as far as this investigation goes for police in DC, where does this pick up as they try to put the pieces together? Yeah, it's gonna pick up right away. They're gonna have to first determine the relationship between the first person shot and our shooter because obviously that person was the target. What kind of relationship did they have? What kind of feud did they have? It may be tied to the HOA situation in the building. It may be something completely different. We won't know that until they determine what that relationship is between the shooter and the original victim. And then they're gonna gather all the evidence and make sure that those people that were injured are okay. Because this happened so close to the White House, what, if anything, does that add to To add to this investigation, It sounds from what I'm seeing so far that it's unrelated to anything in politics or government unless we get a different motive that comes out of it. I know it will create some lockdown situations obviously for the government buildings in the area. I read somewhere that the first lady had to modify her transportation due to the active situation, but they'll be locked down until they All clear from the police, but it sounds like an isolated situation that was not related to the White House. I want you to listen to part of some interviews that we got or that our sister station got earlier, and then we'll get back to you for one more question. Sounds great. We heard a gunshot. We weren't sure it was a gunshot. Personally, I wasn't sure it was a huge, large bang. You're not expecting to hear a gunshot. We quickly realized because then I looked across the way and there was definitely a fatality there. It seemed like the guy was not moving and definitely on the ground. And that's when we heard the additional gunshots and we literally ran for our lives. There was gun smoke everywhere and I was then hearing multiple shots and then we all ran into Call Your Mother and that was sheltering place that all did a very good job of letting us hide in there. I think we heard from police as well. Did we have that too? All right. Don't worry about that. So I did want to ask you this. When you have a shooting that happens at a gym, and this is a place that many people frequent, and then it's a place that people can relate to, not just in DC, but all across the country and all across the world, what are some of the things that you want people to be aware of in situations like this if they are in a soft target spot? Yeah, you just, a gym isn't really a A hard place because most people have their headphones in. They're concentrated on their workouts. And it's very difficult in a situation like that to keep a strong check on the surroundings around you. But I always advocate for that. Always be aware of your surroundings. Know where your exits are in any location that you're in so that you can make the escape. From what that lady said, it sounds like the gym did a great job of protecting their clients and their customers. Giving them a safe space to hide in, in the offices and things like that. So, like I said, a gym's a difficult place, but you've got to be very aware of your surroundings. Always know where your closest exits are and where you can seek cover from anything that's going on around you. Great advice there, Jason Meyer. We appreciate it, man. Retired Novi Police Commander. Thanks for joining us. We'll be right back.