Security Guard Killed in Holocaust Museum Shooting in Washington, DC
By VOA News
10 June 2009
A gunman has killed a security guard in a shooting at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C.
Officials said the guard died of his injuries at a hospital Wednesday after being rushed there immediately after the shooting earlier in the day. The suspected gunman is also hospitalized, in critical condition.
The Washington, D.C. police chief, Cathy Lanier, said a man entered the museum building shortly after noon Wednesday with what appeared to be a rifle. She said he immediately opened fire on an armed security guard.
The police chief said the guard and at least one other security officer returned fire. The suspected gunman and the guard were taken to George Washington University Hospital, where the guard later died.
News reports indicate the suspect is James von Brunn, who is in his late 80s and believed to have connections to white supremacist and neo-Nazi groups. But police have refused to confirm the attacker's identity.
A White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said President Barack Obama is "saddened" by what happened and is monitoring developing information.
The Israeli Embassy in Washington, in a statement, condemned the attack, and said it is shocked and saddened by the shooting.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is working with local police on the investigation.
The Holocaust museum has been secured and evacuated. The building is next to the National Mall, in an area that is usually crowded with tourists and is not far from the White House.
Eyewitnesses told television news service CNN that they heard at least five shots fired in the museum.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.
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