PETA used the deadly DC shooting to go after a restaurant's foie gras dinner, then blamed critics when it had to delete the post

PETA drew a wave of outrage Thursday after it used the deadly shooting in Washington, DC's Logan Circle neighborhood to protest a nearby restaurant's foie gras dinner, the New York Post reports.

"An active shooting has been down the block from Mallard restaurant in DC, which is planning a foie gras dinner tonight," the animal rights group posted on X, with a photo of police tape near the Vida Fitness gym where the shooting happened. It noted that PETA founder Ingrid Newkirk was "on scene" and asked whether the restaurant would "show its neighbors the consideration it's refused to show ducks."

"You should be so ashamed of this tweet," chef José Andrés wrote. "People dead and injured and you tweet this?" Fox News reporter Jacqui Heinrich shared the post with the caption "*picks up jaw off the floor*," and journalist Yashar Ali wrote, "There is something deeply wrong with this organization."

PETA deleted the post but did not apologize. In a follow-up, it said the shooting was in its neighborhood and that it had canceled a protest at the restaurant "out of respect for the victims." It said it took the post down "because people who support and take part in the violent killing of ducks and geese for foie gras, like Chef Jose Andres, were twisting it."

Police say Dr. Matt Lambert shot his building manager, James Stuart, inside the gym Thursday morning after a dispute over mold, wounded four more people from his apartment balcony, and then killed himself after an hour-long standoff.