A police officer was killed on Tuesday, August 4, in an attack a few meters from the Pentagon, which was briefly placed on alert, according to the building police. Employees of the US Department of Defense were called by loudspeaker to stay inside the structure at around 10:40 a.m. (4:40 p.m. GMT) after several gunshots were heard at the bus station near the famous building south of the capital Washington, Virginia.
The state of alert was lifted at around 12:10 p.m., but the exits of the metro station and the bus station, which are a few meters from one of the Pentagon’s entrances, remained closed until new order.
“Pentagon Protection Force deplores tragic loss of Pentagon police officer killed in incident this morning at Pentagon bus station”, said in a statement, this civilian unit which ensures the protection of the building. According to a defense ministry official who requested anonymity, the police officer died of stab wounds and his assailant was shot and killed.
“The incident is over, the area is secure, and most importantly, our community is no longer threatened”, commented to the press the chief of this force, Woodrow Kusse.
A heavy criminal record
In the aftermath of the attack, the FBI identified the assailant. According to US Federal Police, Austin L., 27, got off a bus Tuesday morning and was “Immediately, without provocation” stabbed Pentagon Protection Force officer George Gonzalez a few yards from one of the entrances to US Army headquarters.
“A fight ensued, in which the individual fatally wounded police officer Gonzalez and then shot himself with the police officer’s service weapon.”, the FBI said in a statement.
Other police officers then intervened and Austin L., originally from Georgia, in the south of the United States, died at the scene, added the federal police. She did not say whether the other police had used their guns, but several witnesses reported multiple shots being fired. A witness was hospitalized with milder injuries and was quickly released from the hospital, according to the FBI.
The police did not mention any possible motive for this attack. Austin L. had a heavy criminal record, according to local media. In particular, he had already attacked a police officer, made terrorist threats and committed a burglary. According to the local daily Atlanta Journal-Constitution, he was on bail and a judge had ordered an assessment of his mental state and addictions.
An ongoing investigation
The Pentagon remained very discreet, refusing for several hours to confirm the death of the police officer while several elected officials from Virginia tweeted their condolences. “I am terribly saddened by the death of a Pentagon policeman, who was killed this morning in an insane act of violence”, thus tweeted Virginia Democratic Senator Mark Warner.
Local television channels showed in the afternoon dozens of police gathered in front of the Washington hospital where the officer had been transferred, to pay tribute to him. Emergency Services in Arlington, the home town of the Pentagon, home of the Department of Defense and U.S. Army Command, said “Several patients” had been taken care of on site.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, who was not in the building at the time of the incident, ordered the Pentagon flags to be lowered to pay tribute to the slain policeman. “This policeman died in the line of duty, protecting the tens of thousands of people who work in the Pentagon daily or visit it”Austin said in a statement, simply adding that the officer was dead “From the wounds inflicted this morning”.
He pointed out that an investigation was underway to “Determine the circumstances of the incident”. “We must let this investigation take its course without intervening or indulging in speculation”, he added.
Mr. Austin and Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Milley were at the White House for a weekly meeting with President Joe Biden.
