The court’s decision resolves Steve Taehee Ha’s prosecution but leaves Hyungjoon Choi’s relatives without an explanation for the seemingly random attack.
RESTON, Va. — Nearly two years after Hyungjoon Choi was killed without warning during an afternoon workout, his family is confronting a court ruling that closes the criminal case against the shooter while leaving the reason for the attack unknown.
A Fairfax County judge accepted Steve Taehee Ha’s plea of not guilty by reason of insanity in Choi’s death. The decision stunned Choi’s relatives, who had expected a murder case built around witness testimony, gym records and evidence collected after Ha’s arrest to proceed toward a conventional verdict.
The ruling establishes a legal outcome but provides little emotional resolution for the family. Investigators found no known connection between Ha and Choi, no documented dispute and no evidence that they had spoken before the shooting. Authorities initially called the attack targeted because of the gunman’s movements, but they never released a motive.
Choi, 31, lived in Reston and was exercising inside the Gold’s Gym on Sunrise Valley Drive on Aug. 20, 2024. Police said Ha approached him and opened fire shortly before 1:15 p.m. Choi was struck multiple times and taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
A trainer who testified at Ha’s preliminary hearing said the gunman entered with a bag over his shoulder, pulled out a handgun and fired six to nine shots. The trainer said the shooter did not speak before firing. Other people inside the gym fled as the gunfire erupted in the workout area.
Ha left the building after the shooting. Fairfax County police identified him and arrested him later that day at his home in Chantilly. Detectives said they found multiple firearms in his bedroom, as well as ammunition of a type consistent with rounds used at the gym.
Defense attorneys challenged the strength of that ammunition evidence, noting that the rounds were commonly available. Prosecutors also relied on check-in information showing Ha was the last member to enter the gym before the shooting, along with his acknowledgment that he had been there that day.
A judge sent the case forward after the preliminary hearing, and a grand jury indicted Ha in February 2025. He had faced charges of second-degree murder and use of a firearm in the commission of a felony before the insanity issue changed the direction of the proceedings.
Under an insanity ruling, a defendant is found not criminally responsible because a qualifying mental condition prevented legal responsibility at the time of the act. It is different from a finding that the defendant did not commit the act, and it does not automatically mean the person will return to the community.
Virginia’s legal process allows courts to order psychiatric confinement and continued evaluations after such a finding. Any later change in custody generally requires additional review. The reports reviewed for this article did not specify where Ha would be held, how long he could remain confined or when the court would next examine his status.
For Choi’s family, those legal distinctions do not resolve the loss of a son whose ordinary trip to the gym ended in violence. The absence of a known relationship between the two men has made the killing especially difficult to explain and has prevented the family from learning why Choi became the target.
The judge’s acceptance of the plea ends the murder prosecution without a guilty verdict. Ha remains subject to the legal procedures that follow an insanity finding, while Choi’s relatives continue to object to an outcome they believe does not provide the accountability they sought.
Author note: Last updated July 19, 2026.