Washington, March 05: A man shot and wounded two security officers at an entrance to the Pentagon near a busy commuter rail station before being fatally wounded in a shootout, officials said.
The gunman, identified in media reports as 36-year-old John Patrick Bedell of California, was apparently trying to gain entry to the giant U.S. Defense Department headquarters, Pentagon police chief Richard Keevill told reporters.
The security officers’ wounds did not appear to be life-threatening, Pentagon officials said in a statement.
“He walked up very cool,” Keevill said. “He had no real emotion on his face.”
Several media reports early on Friday stated that the gunman died of wounds sustained in the shootout at the Pentagon entrance.
Instead of presenting a Pentagon pass, which is required to enter the building, the gunman pulled out a gun, Keevill said. Three Pentagon security officers exchanged fire with the suspect, and two were wounded.
The underground Metro station is adjacent to the main entrance of the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, just across the Potomac River from Washington. People can approach the Pentagon unimpeded from the Metro station.
All entrances to the five-sided building were closed after the shooting at 6:40 p.m. (2340 GMT) during the evening rush hour. The entrances were later reopened, except the one adjacent to the Metro station.
Pentagon locks down
Metro authorities said Pentagon officials were also investigating “suspicious packages” outside the station, but the Pentagon spokeswoman was unaware of that.
The Pentagon later lifted the security lockdown and reopened its entrances after deciding that the danger had passed.
Besides serving the Pentagon, the station is a major transportation hub for bus services into suburban northern Virginia and is crowded during the evening rush hour.
The shooting erupted at 6:40 pm (2340 GMT) near the end of the evening rush-hour when an unidentified assailant opened fire, wounding the two Pentagon police officers, the Pentagon said.
“The suspect was injured in return fire from the Pentagon Force Protection Agency officers,” it said in a statement.
The injuries to the two officers “do not appear to be life threatening,” it said, adding that the suspect was “in custody and his condition is unknown.”
The metro authority said the incident took place along a sidewalk adjacent to the metro station and the entrances to the Pentagon.
Metro trains were moving through the station without stopping.
–Agencies