88-YEAR-OLD GUNMAN OPENS FIRE IN U.S. HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL MUSEUM
/PanARMENIAN.Net/
10.06.2009 23:26 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ An 88-year-old gunman with a violent and virulently
anti-Semitic past opened fire with a rifle inside the crowded
U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum on Wednesday, fatally wounding
a security guard before being shot himself by other officers,
authorities said.
The assailant was hospitalized in critical condition, leaving behind
a sprawling investigation by federal and local law enforcement and
expressions of shock from the Israeli government and a prominent
Muslim organization.
Washington Police Chief Cathy Lanier said the gunman was "engaged by
security guards immediately after entering the door" with a rifle. "The
second he stepped into the building he began firing."
Law enforcement officials said James W. von Brunn, a white supremacist,
was under investigation in the shooting and that his car was found near
the museum and tested for explosives. The weapon was a .22-caliber
rifle, they added. They spoke on condition of anonymity, saying they
were not authorized to discuss the investigation just beginning.
Museum officials identified the dead guard as Stephen T. Johns, a
six-year veteran of the facility. Director Sara Bloomfield said he
"died heroically in the line of duty," AP reported.