Police identify two men dead in local gym shooting

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Police identify two men dead in local gym shooting
The victim and shooter in a double shooting on June 29 have died from their injuries. (Photo/Wafir Salih)
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By Denise Dunbar | ddunbar@alextimes.com and Wafir Salih | wsalih@alextimes.com

The victim and shooter in a double shooting that took place inside the Onelife Fitness gym at 305 Hooff’s Run on June 29 have died from their injuries, according to two separate City of Alexandria eNews alerts.

The victim was 29-year-old Joshua Wilcox, of Maryland. The suspect was 30-year-old Charles Hewitt, of Washington, D.C., who, according to an Alexandria Police Department release sent by APD Communications Manager Tracy Walker, succumbed to a self-inflicted gunshot wound. The release indicated that the victim and shooter “were known to each other.”

A manager at a different Onelife location, who spoke on background for this story, said they were on duty at the time of the shooting and that members began entering the different location after being turned away at Hooff’s Run following the shooting. This was the first the manager at the other location had heard of the shooting.

The manager said both the victim and the shooter would have had to be Onelife members in order to have entered the facility, as members must check in before proceeding from the lobby into the locker room and workout areas.

A corporate-generated email was later sent to Onelife employees alerting them to the event, according to the manager, who described the email as a typical “bland” corporate message.

Rebecca Churchill, a spokesperson for Onelife Fitness, said the gym is providing counseling to staff who witnessed the event.

“We have counselors who are taking care of support needs to our Onelife team members,” Churchill said. “Safety and support of our members and our Onelife team is our highest priority.”

The Hooff’s Run location of Onelife reopened to the public Tuesday morning.

The first police scanner traffic at 4:19 p.m. on Saturday reported multiple 911 calls indicating three shots had been fired inside the gym.

Numerous police and EMS vehicles were then routed to the scene. Police got there first and quickly called the scene “cold,” meaning there was not currently an active shooter.

The police inside the gym were increasingly frantic in asking for medics to come inside. At 4:24:25 a police officer said the scene was cold and “I need medics inside now.” At 4:26:58 this was repeated, with an officer saying that the scene was cold and medics could come inside.

An obviously distraught officer at 4:27:12 yelled, “The scene is secure. Get them in here!”

Officers preliminarily determined that one male in a Washington Commanders t-shirt shot another male in a white t-shirt and then shot himself. Both were initially described as being in critical condition. The suspected shooter was transported to a Fairfax hospital first. The apparent victim was treated at the scene and then transported to an Alexandria hospital.

A third ambulance was requested for a woman who witnessed the shooting and was suffering from an apparent panic attack. Police identified and were investigating a vehicle that was possibly owned by the shooter and interviewed multiple witnesses at the gym. Police scanner reports, available on openmhz.com, described the vehicle as a black Lexus with tinted windows. One dispatch also said that a command page with basic information was being sent.

An eNews alert sent out by the Alexandria Police Department at 5:18 p.m. on June 29 stated:

“The Alexandria Police Department is investigating a shooting that occurred this afternoon, Saturday, June 29, 2024, in the 300 block of Hooffs Run Drive. Two people have sustained life-threatening injuries. Both have been transported to local hospitals. There is a significant police presence on Hooffs Run Drive and Eisenhower Avenue. Hooffs Run Drive is closed to through traffic. If you live in the immediate area, you should be prepared to park and walk to your home or adjacent businesses until the on-scene investigation is complete.

The manager of the other location said their understanding is the shootings were a crime of “passion.” 

Caitlyn Meisner also contributed to this story.

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