View Full Version : PENTAGON SHOOTING
Warrior-Mentor
03-04-2010, 18:59
ARLINGTON, Va. (WUSA) - Fire officials confirm that at least three people have been shot at the Pentagon Metro station.
First responders are rushing the victims to local hospitals.
Several officers are on the scene.
The Pentagon Metro station has been closed and trains are being diverted to the Pentagon City station.
SOURCE:
http://www.wusa9.com/news/breaking/story.aspx?storyid=98041&catid=158
Warrior-Mentor
03-04-2010, 19:40
Shots Fired at Pentagon; Two Police and Gunman Injured
Suspect Reported in Custody; Defense Headquarters in Lockdown
By NED POTTER
March 4, 2010 —
Two police officers were injured by a gunman firing shots outside the Pentagon tonight and a suspect is in custody, a police spokesman said.
The officers' injuries were not life-threatening, police said.
The suspect was injured when police returned fire, according to a Defense Department statement, and the extent of the suspect's injuries were not known.
All three were taken to George Washington Hospital in Washington, a hospital spokeswoman said.
The shooting occurred around 6:35 p.m. at the entrance to the Pentagon Metro Station, which is just outside the Pentagon's main entrance.
The officers belonged to the Pentagon Force Protection Agency, the Defense Department said in a statement. One appeared to be hit in the lower part of the body, according to reporters there. He appeared to be alert when he was loaded into an ambulance.
Initially, hundreds of employees at the Pentagon were ordered to go into "Code Red" -- the entire building locked down, with no one allowed to enter or leave.
At least three ambulances were called to the scene, and all parking lots at the massive Defense Department headquarters were closed off.
After about 45 minutes, people were allowed to leave the Pentagon building through entrances other than the one closest to the Metro station, though metro trains bypassed the Pentagon station.
Service to the station resumed around 8 p.m., according to a statement by Metro officials, though parts of the facility remained closed as police continued to investigate the shooting.
26,000 People Work at Pentagon
The Pentagon Metro station stop is a couple of hundred feet from the famous five sided building. People leaving the station who wish to enter the Pentagon must show ID to Pentagon police in order to get close to the building
The Pentagon, just across the Potomac River from downtown Washington, is, by area, the world's largest office building. About 26,000 people work there, according to the Defense Department.
ABC News' Steven Portnoy, Martha Raddatz, Luis Martinez and Jennifer Wlach, and Reuters contributed to this story.
SOURCE:
http://abcnews.go.com/US/pentagon-shots-fired-police-officers-reported-injured/story?id=10014570
Warrior-Mentor
03-04-2010, 20:01
How long til we get the Shooter's name???
Gunman wounds 2 officers at Pentagon metro station
By CHRISTINE SIMMONS (AP) – 23 minutes ago
WASHINGTON — A gunman opened fire at the teeming subway entrance to Pentagon complex Thursday evening, wounding two military police officers before being shot, a spokesman said. Authorities said all three were taken to a hospital. Chris Layman, a spokesman for the Pentagon Force Protection Agency, said the two officers and gunman were not thought to have life-threatening injuries although the suspect's wounds were more serious.
The suspect walked up to the entrance at 6:40 p.m. and opened fire. He hit two officers. The officers fired back, and the suspect was struck.
The rush-hour assault happened outside a massively fortified building that nevertheless is near busy crowds of transit riders.
The subway station is immediately adjacent to the Pentagon building. Since a redesign following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attack on the Pentagon, riders can no longer disembark directly into the building. Riders take a long escalator ride to the surface from the underground station, then pass through a security check outside the doors of the building, where further security awaits.
In the immediate aftermath, all Pentagon entrances were secured, then all were reopened except one from the subway, said Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman.
A Pentagon official working late in the building said people inside first heard of the shooting on television. They were later told the building was locked down and to stay in place. The huge five-sided building is crisscrossed by 10 main corridors.
Then at around 7:30 p.m., they heard an announcement on the public address system that they could leave through Corridor 3 — one widely used to get access to one of the parking lots.
"We really don't know anything, just that we can leave now through that corridor," one official said on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to speak about the incident.
Associated Press writers Anne Gearan and Pauline Jelinek contributed to this report.
SOURCE:
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iCKwXk17aAr3T_8Z9nN4iUwQPnngD9E85VG84
Kyobanim
03-04-2010, 20:52
The suspect, identified as 36-year old John Patrick Bedell, allegedly walked up to a security checkpoint at the Pentagon in an apparent attempt to get inside the Defense Department headquarters, at about 6:40 p.m. "He just reached in his pocket, pulled out a gun and started shooting," Keevill said. "He walked up very cool. He had no real emotion on his face." The Pentagon officers returned fire with semiautomatic weapons.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/35716821/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts/
Ret10Echo
03-04-2010, 21:03
WASHINGTON - A gunman coolly drew a weapon from his pocket and opened fire at the teeming subway entrance to the Pentagon complex Thursday evening, wounding two police officers before being shot and critically wounded, officials said.
The shooting involved two Pentagon Force Protection Agency police officers. Arlington Country Fire and Rescue says the three people, including the suspect, have been transported to a local hospital.
Sources tell the Associated Press the suspect has been identified as 36-year-old John Patrick Bedell.
Pentagon Police spokesperson Chris Layman said the suspect walked up to the main entrance of the Pentagon at 6:40 p.m. and opened fire. He hit two officers. The officers fired back, and the suspect was hit.
Full story at WTOP (http://wtop.com/?nid=25&sid=1904181)
I understand the fool was critically injured. While there is a morbid part of us that wants to know why he did it, I have to say at this point I don't really care, I just want him to leave this world so we don't have to hear anymore of him or from him.
Pentagon Police Chief Richard Keevill when asked how many shots were fired said "Many."
Superb work, Pentagon Force officers, for your decisive action. Speedy recovery to you both.
In a country of 300 million plus, statistically you end up with a few nutjobs. Almost sounds like "suicide by Cop" to me. He's gone - good riddance and good job by the officers.
Green Light
03-05-2010, 01:49
Heck, I went through that Metro station yesterday. Timing is everything. Of ccourse, it's the first stop from DC, through which you can't carry a concealed weapon. Can't even return fire in that town.
Ret10Echo
03-05-2010, 05:11
March 5, 2010 - 5:17am
WASHINGTON - A gunman, who calmly opened fire and wounded two officers at the entrance to the Pentagon Thursday night, is dead after officers quickly returned fire.
"As the officers started to ask him for his pass to get into the Pentagon, he drew a weapon from his pocket and started shooting immediately," said Richard Keevill, chief of Pentagon police.
Officers, whose wounds are described as grazing wounds, immediately returned fire and critically wounded John Patrick Bedell, 36, of Hollister, Calif. He died hours after being admitted to George Washington Hospital.
"We were fortunate there were no other injuries," Keevill says.
This is the first shooting ever at the Pentagon's entrance.
"To my knowledge, it has never happened in our history, not with a gun," Keevill said.
Bedell, who lived with his parents, may have harbored resentment for the military and had doubts about the facts behind the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
More on what transpired is expected to be released at a 6 a.m. news conference.
The incident occurred at 6:40 p.m. Thursday and forced a brief lockdown of the Pentagon until Bedell was taken into custody.
The shootings also prompted the shutdown of the adjacent Pentagon Metro station until 8 p.m. Thursday. It reopened from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m.
The Pentagon Metro station and Transit Center will remain closed Friday.
Gary Fiddler was in the Metro station at the time of the shooting.
"We were told by one of the police officers who had a gun pointed at us that an officer had been shot and it was a dangerous situation," Fiddler tells WTOP.
"Eventually everyone was ushered back downstairs. There was a Metro announcement that if we wanted to exit the station, that we had to do so at our own risk."
Those who were working late at the Pentagon first heard about the shooting on TV and were later told the building was locked down. Around 7:30 p.m., they heard an announcement on the public address system that they could leave through Corridor 3, which is widely used to access one of the parking lots.
Ret10Echo
03-05-2010, 05:31
Apparently the definition of "well armed" is subjective but in an area where the general population is generally UNARMED it doesn't take much.
Official: Pentagon shooter was well armed
March 5, 2010 - 6:21am
WASHINGTON (AP) - The chief of the Pentagon police says the gunman who shot two Pentagon police officers was well armed with two 9 millimeter semiautomatic weapons and several magazines of ammunition.
Chief Richard Keevill said authorities also found more ammunition in the shooter's car, parked in a Washington area parking garage. John Patrick Bedell, 36, of Hollister, Calif., was identified as the shooter. He died Thursday night from head wounds received in the exchange with police.
The two officers injured have been released from the hospital. One suffered a thigh wound and the other was hit in the shoulder. Keeveill said both were superficial injuries.
Keevill said they'd found no immediate connection to domestic or foreign terrorism. He said it appeared he had acted alone.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.
"......Bedell, who lived with his parents, may have harbored resentment for the military and had doubts about the facts behind the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks..."
Another "not normal" person. In his 30's but lived with his parents, didn't like the military and was a truther.
"resentment for the military" - an odd phrase or odd use of the phrase.
Wonder how long it will take the MSM to pigeonhole him.
A link to a blog story but.......
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2763062/reports_say_pentagon_shooter_john_patrick.html?cat =75
"................The political/ideological leanings of this Pentagon shooter would ordinarily not be important if—and only if—the liberals who monopolize the mainstream media hadn't been ruthlessly unfair and obsessed with delivering low blows as they did by linking right-wingers and Tea Party supporters to criminals/terrorists like the man in Texas who flew his plane into an IRS office. Thus, nowadays, it becomes almost a requirement to research the backgrounds of these killers just to guard against more, unjustified, liberal media bomb-throwing. The only remaining, really important question is this, Will the liberal, mainstream media tell the truth about John Patrick Bedell—based on all the evidence of reports, more than likely a liberal conspiracy theorist, marijuana supporter and anti-military guy—or will they brand him a conservative Tea Party person? We'll soon know, but in the meantime, reports like this one are essential."
Well done by the PD on scene...a speedy recovery to the two injured officers. Glad to hear no unarmed military personnel were hit. Sounds like another douche bag amatuer...
Bordercop
03-05-2010, 07:24
The link: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/03/05/AR2010030500957.html?hpid=topnews
The California man who walked calmly up to two police officers and opened fire at an entrance to the Pentagon Thursday evening appears to have acted alone and was not connected to any terrorist plot, Pentagon police chief Richard S. Keevill said Friday morning.
The shooter, identified as 36-year-old John Patrick Bedell, was dressed in a business suit and carried two 9-millimeter semi-automatic weapons and "many magazines" of ammunition, Keevill said at a 6 a.m. news conference. "He walked very directly to the officers and engaged," Keevill said.
The officers were superficially wounded, one in the shoulder and one in the thigh, the police chief said. Both were treated at George Washington University Hospital in Northwest Washington and released.
They and a third officer returned fire at Bedell, critically wounding him in the head, said Keevill, chief of the Pentagon Force Protection Agency. Bedell died at George Washington University Hospital.
Keevill said police and the FBI are examining surveillance video that shows Bedell as he approached the Pentagon, and have tracked his road trip from the Washington area to California over the last several weeks. They impounded his car, located at a nearby parking garage, and are processing the evidence found inside of it, including more ammunition.
"At this time it appears to be a single individual that had issues," Keevill said. He emphasized that law enforcement officials have found no link between Bedell and any terror group in the United States or overseas.
Police are looking at possible anti-government Internet postings by Bedell, Keevill said, and still trying to establish his motive 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 officers acted very quickly and decisively to neutralize him as a threat," Keevill said. "No one else was injured." He said the whole incident lasted less than a minute.
The shooting occurred at 6:40 p.m., near the end of rush hour. The Pentagon Metrorail station and transit center remained closed Friday morning. Trains are passing through the station, officials said, but passengers have to board or disembark at the nearby Pentagon City station.
"We're lucky. we're very fortunate that there were not more civilians" at the entrance at the time of the shooting, Keevill said.
In the hours after the shooting, police sought to interview a man seen talking to Bedell on the surveillance video. But one federal law enforcement source said the second man was not thought to be 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." The elder Bedell then said, "I'm sorry, I can't talk about this," and hung up.
President Obama was following the case and was being provided updates from the FBI, assistant White House press secretary Nicholas Shapiro said.
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 security pass is necessary to enter the Pentagon building. But instead of bringing out a pass, Keevill said, the man "came out with a gun."
Then, Keevill said, the man started shooting.
"There wasn't time to say anything to him," Keevill said. "He drew a gun and started shooting almost immediately."
Although the Pentagon is a symbol of the nation's armed forces, there was nothing disclosed immediately that tied the incident to attacks such as the one last year at Fort Hood, Tex.
In many ways, the incident seemed reminiscent of two attacks in Washington in the past dozen years. One was the shooting at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum last year, in which a man with a gun walked up to the museum entrance and shot and killed a guard before the man was wounded. In another, an armed man shot and killed two Capitol Police officers at an entrance to the Capitol.
As pieced together from accounts given Thursday night, the attack occurred at an entrance linking the Pentagon to the Pentagon Station on the Metrorail system, which runs underground at that point. The spot teems with people, including Pentagon employees and other commuters who transfer to and from buses.
Police are routinely posted there as "the first line of defense" for the Pentagon, said Terrance P. Sutherland, chief spokesman for the Pentagon police.
The Pentagon's security system worked as intended, officials said. The gunman was prevented from entering the building and injuring anyone at work inside.
"We train with some regularity to see we can do it very quickly, and we did it very quickly tonight," Keevill said. At the Friday briefing, he said the police force's procedures worked, and he saw no reason to change them.
"The Fort Hood incident put us on notice that [a shooting] could happen even in a military installation," Keevill said. He said officers were prepared for what happened, and reacted well.
The number of shots fired by the gunman was not made clear. The number of shots fired by the officers was also not disclosed, but the total was described as high. The officers wore bullet-resistant vests. Bedell did not, Keevill said. Dozens of officers from many area jurisdictions, including the Arlington County and Pentagon police forces and some military personnel, converged on the Pentagon, directing traffic and using police dogs to search vehicles arriving at the south parking lot.
The Pentagon was briefly locked down. The Pentagon Metro station was closed shortly before 10 p.m. and will remain closed Friday so the FBI can investigate, said Cathy Asato, a Metro spokeswoman. Trains will pass through the station but will not pick up or drop off passengers. The Pentagon transit center also was to be closed, with pickups made at the Pentagon City station, officials said.
The Pentagon Metrorail station has two banks of entryway escalators that lead to the underground station, with one of the Pentagon building's entrances located between the rail station's entrances, according to Metro.
After the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the Pentagon and World Trade Center, the Defense Department completely rebuilt the Metro entrance to the Pentagon for security reasons.
Previously, a single escalator connected the Metro platform to the Pentagon entrance. After the 9/11 attacks, the escalator was closed and the old entrance walled off. Today, a new elevator leads outside. Pentagon workers must pass through a large stone entrance. Outside the main doors two guards sit behind bulletproof glass barriers and check identification cards. Inside the building beyond a set of turnstiles is another guard, armed with a rifle.
In 2005, Officer James Feltis became the first Pentagon force officer killed in the line of duty. He was dragged by a Cadillac stolen by a carjacker who was fleeing Alexandria police and entered a Pentagon parking lot, where Feltis tried to stop him.
Strong work, and my wishes for a full and speed recover to the injured pentagon Police Officers who were injured and had a part and 'rendering harmless' this scumbag.
Utah Bob
03-05-2010, 18:40
Bad situation. Good outcome.
Doczilla
03-06-2010, 01:45
The shooter, identified as 36-year-old John Patrick Bedell, was dressed in a business suit and carried two 9-millimeter semi-automatic weapons and "many magazines" of ammunition, Keevill said at a 6 a.m. news conference. "He walked very directly to the officers and engaged," Keevill said.
These officers prevented a tragedy. This nutburger showed up with the means and intent to kill a large number of people. No doubt we would be reading about yet another mass murder if it weren't for these heroes.
If I ever meet them, their bar tab is on me.
'zilla
TheSiatonist
03-06-2010, 03:15
Coulda sworn Katie Couric said a while ago in CBS Evening News the asshole died from a gunshot wound to the head when the officers returned fire. Oh well ... kudos to the officers from stopping this prick from doing further casualties, and a fast recovery to them.
Big question was how he was able to purchase the weapons if he was hospitalized at least 4 times in the past due to mental illness.
Utah Bob
03-06-2010, 08:21
Coulda sworn Katie Couric said a while ago in CBS Evening News the asshole died from a gunshot wound to the head when the officers returned fire. Oh well ... kudos to the officers from stopping this prick from doing further casualties, and a fast recovery to them.
Big question was how he was able to purchase the weapons if he was hospitalized at least 4 times in the past due to mental illness.
Weapons are easy to get. Just fill out the form and mark "no" on the "Are you a nutcase" line. No way to check.
Joe_Snuffy
03-06-2010, 09:12
Weapons are easy to get. Just fill out the form and mark "no" on the "Are you a nutcase" line. No way to check.
Heh. Or buy at a gun show. My understanding is that a lot of vendors don't bother to do background checks.
This is another example of why on-duty service members should be allowed to carry in federal buildings imho.
The Reaper
03-06-2010, 09:20
Heh. Or buy at a gun show. My understanding is that a lot of vendors don't bother to do background checks.
Yeah, that is what the media would have you believe. :rolleyes: Unfortunately, that would last till the first trace or compliance inspection on the dealer occurs, then someone is in big trouble.
The "gun show loophole" is the fact that individuals (not dealers) can transact a face to face sale (as long as state laws permit), the same as if you put an ad in the paper or went to your cousin's house to buy one from him. You know, the guy walking around the show with the SKS on his shoulder and the "$150" flag stuck in the muzzle. The anti-gunners want a paper trail for every gun, and to do that they need to end individual to individual personal sales.
If they get their way, you would both have to go to a gun dealer's store and transfer the gun through him, yellow sheets, permits, background checks, transaction fee, etc.
We need to make sure that this common misconception is not propogated unchallenged.
TR
Joe_Snuffy
03-06-2010, 09:43
Yeah, that is what the media would have you believe. :rolleyes: Unfortunately, that would last till the first trace or compliance inspection on the dealer occurs, then someone is in big trouble.
The "gun show loophole" is the fact that individuals (not dealers) can transact a face to face sale (as long as state laws permit), the same as if you put an ad in the paper or went to your cousin's house to buy one from him. You know, the guy walking around the show with the SKS on his shoulder and the "$150" flag stuck in the muzzle. The anti-gunners want a paper trail for every gun, and to do that they need to end individual to individual personal sales.
If they get their way, you would both have to go to a gun dealer's store and transfer the gun through him, yellow sheets, permits, background checks, transaction fee, etc.
We need to make sure that this common misconception is not propogated unchallenged.
TR
My mistake TR. Thank you for setting me straight.
Buffalobob
03-06-2010, 11:32
Interesting timing of the shooting and the weapons used and the Supreme Court considering exactly those weapons and how they are regulated.
Different thought was the fact that no bystanders were hit by anyone. I wonder what bullets the security personnel were using. Lots of hard surfaces in a Metro tunnel for bullets to bounce around and finally hit someone.