Shooting outside Pentagon injures two police officers

WASHINGTON, March 5, 2010 (AFP) - A man pulled a gun from his pocket and opened fire outside the Pentagon's metro entrance on Thursday, injuring two police officers before he was shot and seriously wounded, officials said.

News reports early Friday said the suspect died. Neither the medical examiner's office nor Pentagon police would immediately confirm the death.


The shooting occurred during the crowded evening rush-hour outside the busy subway station which is just outside the large Department of Defense building, triggering a temporary security lockdown at the US military headquarters.

The suspect "appeared to be pretty calm" as he approached the entrance, Chief Richard Keevill of the Pentagon Force Protection Agency told reporters.

"As the officers started to ask him for his pass... he drew a weapon from his pocket and started shooting," Keevill said.

"He did not say anything."

Police returned fire and the suspected shooter was critically wounded, Keevill said.

The injuries to the two police officers appeared to be grazing wounds and not life threatening, he said.

The three were taken to nearby George Washington University hospital for treatment while the motive of the suspected gunman remained unclear.

Keevill said the suspect was believed to be an American citizen.

The Pentagon later lifted the security lockdown and reopened its entrances after deciding that the danger had passed, although the Washington transit authority said Metro's Pentagon station would be closed for the Friday morning rush hour to allow an FBI investigation to proceed.

Metro authorities also said officials were investigating reports of "suspicious packages" outside the station but defense officials could not confirm the report.

Authorities were also reportedly investigating whether there was a second person involved.

The shooting occurred at 6:40 pm (2340 GMT) along a sidewalk adjacent to the metro station and the entrance to the Pentagon, officials said.

After a hijacked plane slammed into the Pentagon in the September 11 attacks of 2001, the building was fortified and the metro entrance was rebuilt to bolster security.

A metro escalator once connected directly to the Pentagon building entrance but that was closed after the 9/11 attacks.

Now metro riders take an escalator up from the underground station and then pass through a security check outside the building, where two officers stand behind bullet proof glass barriers to check official passes.

Once inside, employees use electronic cards to pass through turnstiles guarded by more police.

Besides serving the Pentagon and its thousands of military and civilian employees, the station is a major transportation hub for bus services into suburban northern Virginia.

The shooting occurred hours after Danish Defense Minister Gitte Lillelund held talks at the Pentagon with US Defense Secretary Robert Gates to discuss the NATO-led war effort in Afghanistan.


by Dan De Luce
(c) 2010 AFP