Police officer dead after confrontation with shooter outside Pentagon
A police officer was stabbed to death outside the Pentagon on Tuesday during an attack at a nearby transit station, forcing the federal building into lockdown, according to authorities and reports.
The unidentified Pentagon cop was one of at least two victims of the Arlington, Va., bloodshed, an Associated Press reporter tweeted.
Law-enforcement sources said the officer was killed during “a burst of violence” at the station, which is just steps from the Pentagon.
Multiple outlets said the suspect was killed at the scene.
“This morning, at about 10:37 a.m., a Pentagon police officer was attacked on the Metro bus platform,” Pentagon Police Chief Woody Kusse said at an afternoon briefing.
“Gunfire was exchanged, and there were several casualties,” Kusse said. “The incident is over, the scene is secure, and more importantly there is no continued threat to our community.”
Kusse would not confirm that the officer was killed nor say how many people were injured and gave no details on the suspect.
He said the incident remains under investigation by the FBI.
The first reports about the incident came out shortly before 11 a.m., when the Pentagon Force Protection Agency tweeted, “The Pentagon currently is on lockdown due to an incident at the Pentagon Transit Center. We are asking the public to please avoid the area. More information will be forthcoming.”
Pentagon police said around noon that the scene had been secured.
According to reports, “multiple gunshots” were fired near a platform by the building’s Metro and bus station.
The Arlington County Fire Department said there were “multiple patients” at the scene.
An Associated Press staffer near the scene reported hearing multiple shots, followed by a pause and then an additional shot. Another AP reporter heard police yelling, “Shooter!”
Around noon, the Pentagon tweeted it had “lifted the lockdown and has reopened. Corridor 2 and the Metro entrance remains closed.”
With Post Wires
