Reston Gold's Gym shooting: What we know about the suspect Steven Ha
FAIRFAX COUNTY, Va. - A man is dead, and another is in custody following a fatal shooting inside a Gold’s Gym in Reston, Virginia, on Monday afternoon.
The victim, identified as 31-year-old Hyong Joon Choi, was shot inside the gym around 1:15 p.m., Fairfax County Police said.
Choi’s death marks the third shooting in a gym in the D.C.-Maryland-Virginia area since April.
Authorities quickly identified the suspect as 43-year-old Steve Ha of Chantilly.
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1 man shot, killed inside Reston Gold's Gym; suspect in custody
An afternoon shooting at Gold's Gym in Fairfax County left one man dead. The suspect was found Tuesday evening and arrested by Fairfax County police officers.
Ha has been arrested and charged with second-degree murder. According to police, Ha fled the scene after the shooting, and his arrest was announced around 9 p.m. Monday evening.
Although investigators described the incident as a targeted attack, they did not elaborate on the motive.
A customer at the gym, who recently moved to the area, expressed shock over the incident.
"I’m all about safety and being around, you know, safe areas, and honestly, this is like the safest area I’ve seen," the customer said. "To have something like this happen at a gym, I feel for the victim and their family, and I’m shocked."
Monday’s incident follows two other high-profile shootings at gyms in the DMV area.
In April, a shooting in Lanham occurred following a dispute at a pickup basketball game, and in Alexandria, a murder-suicide was reported involving two people who were known to each other.
In a statement sent to FOX 5, Gold’s Gym Metro D.C. CEO Matt Clifford said: "We are grateful to law enforcement for quickly apprehending the suspect and are holding the victim’s family in our thoughts during this difficult time. We have confirmed that both men were members who followed security procedures by scanning their membership barcodes upon entering the gym. This has been a shock to our team and gym community and we are continuing to process what happened."
No attorney has been listed for Steve Ha, and attempts to reach his family members have not been successful.