BAD -- Pentagon Police Officers down

[DaveH]

3 Shot Outside Pentagon Metro Station; 2 Pentagon Police Officers Among Victims

3 Shot Outside Pentagon Metro Station
Two victims were Pentagon Police Officers

Updated: Thursday, 04 Mar 2010, 7:21 PM CST
Published : Thursday, 04 Mar 2010, 6:09 PM CST

By MYFOXDC STAFF/myfoxdc

ARLINGTON, Va. - Three people have been injured when a gunman opened fire at the entrance to the Pentagon Metro station on Thursday evening, and two of the victims are Pentagon Police officers.

The officers who were injured were taken to George Washington University Hospital's emergency room. The suspect was among the shooting victims, and he was also taken to the hospital. None of the injuries were thought to be life-threatening, according to a Pentagon Force Protection Agency spokesman.

The Pentagon Metro station, which serves both the Blue and Yellow lines for the transit system, was closed for a time after the shooting, which happened around 6:40 p.m. By 8 p.m., the Metro station had been reopened, with the exception of one entrance near the scene.

The Pentagon was also locked down for a time during the investigation.

According to Pentagon Force Protection Agency spokesman, the suspect walked up to the main entrance of the Pentagon at 6:40 p.m. and opened fire, hitting two officers. The officers fired back and hit the suspect, whose injuries were said to be more serious.

RAW VIDEO OF EMERGENCY VEHICLES ARRIVING OUTSIDE THE PENTAGON METRO STATION MOMENTS AFTER THE SHOOTING, COURTESY OF ARLNOW.COM/YOUTUBE :

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[ctr]

That is aweful. I worked in the rings for a while and those guys do an awesome job of keeping it safe. I hope the scumbag(s) who did it burn.

[Eagleks]

Makes me wonder who , why, etc . ?

[nutz4utwo]

Crazy people doing crazy things. Glad he didn't make it far.

Anyone know the gun policy on the subway there?

[chenemf]

John Patrick Bedell has been identified as the shooter. No other details.

[GWRedDragon]

Crazy people doing crazy things. Glad he didn't make it far.

Anyone know the gun policy on the subway there?

Yes. As an authority, Metro falls under Virginia's preemption law similarly to a locality. OC and CC on Metro property (in VA) is fully protected by state law.

Obviously that is not the case if you go into DC or MD, though.

[ccw9mm]

According to news reports quoting the Police Chief Richard Keevil, "officers asked to see his pass to enter the building; he started shooting without saying a word. He reached into his pocket and they assumed he was going to get out his pass and he just started shooting."

Note how the felon was stopped: by return fire ON THE INSTANT of the crime occurring. The attacker was subdued reasonably quickly, instead of being allowed to continue to execute his deadly plans. Firearms in the hands of the good guys. Once again, the one practical solution shows its practicality.



Shooting at Pentagon entrance by lone gunman leaves 2 police officers hurt.

Shooting at Pentagon entrance by lone gunman leaves 2 police officers hurt


By Allison Klein, Clarence Williams and Martin Weil
Friday, March 5, 2010

An armed man walked up to an entrance to the Pentagon on Thursday evening, approached two police officers, calmly pulled a gun from his coat pocket and opened fire, wounding the officers before they shot and seriously wounded him.


There was no immediate explanation for the attack at a doorway to the nation's Defense headquarters, one of the busiest, most prominent and closely guarded buildings in the Washington area.

The wounds to the two officers did not appear serious. Richard S. Keevill, chief of the force that guards the Pentagon, described them as grazing wounds.

The officers, members of the Pentagon Force Protection Agency, fired their .40-caliber Glock pistols and wounded the man critically, Keevill said at a news conference about two hours after the shooting. A third officer apparently also shot at the suspect.

"The officers acted very quickly and decisively to neutralize him as a threat," Keevill said. "No one else was injured."

The gunman and the two wounded officers were taken to George Washington University Hospital in the District.

Police declined to identify the shooter, but two federal law enforcement sources identified him as John Patrick Bedell, 36. One of the sources said Bedell was seen on a surveillance video near the Pentagon talking to another man. Police were looking for the second man Thursday night but did not know whether he was involved in any way in the shooting. One federal law enforcement source said the second man was not thought to have been involved.

A man who identified himself as John Bedell answered a call placed to a Hollister, Calif., home and said he had a 36-year-old son named John Patrick Bedell "who is in the Washington area" before saying, "I'm sorry I can't talk about this," and hanging up.

Officials would not speculate about what prompted the gunman's actions. A spokesman for the National Security Council said it was too soon to determine whether the sudden and wordless attack was connected to terrorism.

President Obama was following the case and was being provided updates from the FBI, said assistant White House press secretary Nicholas Shapiro.

Keevill said that witnesses reported that the gunman "walked up very cool" and displayed "no real emotion on his face."

At a key moment, as he reached into his pocket, "they assumed he was going to get his pass out." A pass is necessary to enter the building. But instead of bringing out a pass, Keevill said, the man "came out with a gun."

Excerpts from press conference at 6:40pm EST:

Excerpts from press conference on Pentagon shooting


Thursday, March 4, 2010; 9:39 PM

Here are excerpts from tonight's press conference held at the Pentagon by Richard Keevill, chief of the Pentagon Force Protection Agency:

"About 6:40 tonight, a person came (to) the Pentagon . . . area . . . (and) appeared to be pretty calm. As the officers started to ask him for his pass . . . he drew a weapon from his pocket and started shooting. . . . He did not say anything."

Keevill said the suspect's "situation is pretty critical" after officers returned fire and struck him. He did not identify the suspect.

-- Asked whether the suspect was wearing military fatigues, Keevill responded, "I cannot confirm that." He also said that the suspect fired his shots with a handgun.

-- Asked the suspect's nationality, Keevill said, "He's an American citizen as far as I know."

-- Keevill did not detail where in their bodies the officers were struck, but he said the officers' "injuries were grazing."

-- "The injuries to the suspect are a lot more severe," he said.

-- Keevill said that Pentagon police officers wear ballistic vests.

-- Keevill said that witnesses "said he walked up very cool . . . no real emotion in his face . . . and he reached in his pocket . . . and came out with a gun."

-- He said investigators did not yet know the shooter's motive.

-- "We have a theory, but it's still a theory," he said. "It's going to take time to develop that."

-- Keevill said "the suspect was wearing a coat" but would not say whether the suspect was wearing body armor.

-- He said the Pentagon was locked down successfully. "We train with some regularity to see we can do it very quickly, and we did it very quickly tonight."

-- Keevill said he did not know how many shots were fired.

As of early Friday morning, the suspect, John Patrick Bedell, is reported to be dead:

2 Pentagon Police Officers Shot, Suspect Dead


The D.C. Medical Examiner's Office says the alleged shooter at the Pentagon has died.

Beverly Fields, chief of staff of the D.C. medical examiner's office, said the body of 36-year-old John Patrick Bedell arrived at the medical examiner's office shortly after midnight.

Bedell was shot by two Pentagon police officers after authorities say he drew a weapon from his pocket and opened fire at a security checkpoint into a Pentagon subway entrance.

The two police officers received bullet wounds but were not seriously hurt.

The motive for the shooting in suburban Washington, D.C., wasn't immediately clear.

A second person was being questioned by authorities, but sources say that person may just be a witness and not considered a suspect .

The gunman was calm as he approached the officers at the main entrance around 6:40 p.m., Pentagon Police Chief Richard Keevil said at a news conference. The officers asked to see his pass to enter the building; he started shooting without saying a word.

"He reached into his pocket and they assumed he was going to get out his pass and he just started shooting," Keevil said. The officers were only "grazed" and immediately fired back.

A Pentagon source told Fox News the gunman was shot in the head.

The three involved in the shooting were taken to George Washington University Hospital's emergency room.

"Fortunately there were no other injuries," said Keevil. "A lot of people are coming and going at that time of the night."

The Pentagon was on lockdown for a short while, and the Blue-Yellow line stop at the Pentagon station is still closed.

FoxNews.com's Michelle Maskaly, Fox News' Justin Fishel and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

[dukalmighty]

Point blank range and he grazed them,either that or their vests saved them and allowed them to stop the threat

[GWRedDragon]

...or their vests saved them and allowed them to stop the threat

That would make sense.

Or maybe we have a good side of movies and TV portraying guns as magical instant kill devices: insane people don't even bother to aim?

[Holger]

Didn't that guy know that DC is a "gun-free" zone? I almost didn't believe this story at first since it's illegal to carry a handgun in the District. (Sarcasm/off)

DoD irritates me as hell. I've been in this pass/ID line several times. Could I have been armed? No, DC laws aside. I think if any senior NCO or officer wants to be armed on base, he/she should be allowed to do so. Imagine if 100 E-6s or above had been armed and KNOWN to be armed. This might have never happened.

Heck, if I was an anti-govt, militant islamist the FIRST place I would go was a military base. Put on a pizza guy/vending machine costume, get in the gate, and, voila, nobody is armed. World headlines await.

Gun-free zones are a myth. Everyone here knows that, Bob Dole knows that, and anyone with a brain knows that. Enough already.

[retsupt99]

Didn't that guy know that DC is a "gun-free" zone? I almost didn't believe this story at first since it's illegal to carry a handgun in the District. (Sarcasm/off)

DoD irritates me as hell. I've been in this pass/ID line several times. Could I have been armed? No, DC laws aside. I think if any senior NCO or officer wants to be armed on base, he/she should be allowed to do so. Imagine if 100 E-6s or above had been armed and KNOWN to be armed. This might have never happened.

Heck, if I was an anti-govt, militant islamist the FIRST place I would go was a military base. Put on a pizza guy/vending machine costume, get in the gate, and, voila, nobody is armed. World headlines await.

Gun-free zones are a myth. Everyone here knows that, Bob Dole knows that, and anyone with a brain knows that. Enough already.

Obviously, the required 'signage' must have inadvertently been taken down...we need to get that situation taken care of...

[ccw9mm]

Anti-gunners won't see it, but the obvious has again proven itself to be true: some criminals will ignore the pretty signs, the silly laws, and whatever risks might exist. Again, folks on-scene with the practical ability to defend against the crimes were able to do so.

[GWRedDragon]

Didn't that guy know that DC is a "gun-free" zone? I almost didn't believe this story at first since it's illegal to carry a handgun in the District.

The Pentagon is NOT in DC

Hint: I used to live across the street from it...

<-----------------


That aside, I'm sure it is a 'federal facility'!

[Janq]

Yep. ^^

The Pentagon sits on land annexed from VA by the federal govt. as for specific purpose of building that complex.

- Janq

"Crazy people doing crazy things." - nutz4utwo

[edr9x23super]

I see that they are trying to paint him as a right-wing nutcase, but see elsewhere that as of 2008, he was a registered DEMOCRAT.....