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Police push back crowds outside the Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C., after a shooting on Wednesday.

Gunman, guard shot at Holocaust museum
NBC News: Suspect has ties to hate, anti-government group

NBC News and news services
updated 7 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - An elderly gunman exchanged fire with security guards inside the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum on Wednesday. One security guard and the gunman were taken to a hospital with life-threatening injuries.

Law enforcement officials identified the suspect as James Wenneker von Brunn, 88, from the Eastern Shore of Maryland, NBC News reported. NBC said he may have had connections to hate groups or anti-government groups.

D.C. police spokeswoman Traci Hughes said the suspect walked into the museum at about 12:50 p.m. ET with a rifle and shot a guard. U.S. Park Police Sgt. David Schlosser says one or more guards at the museum returned fire, hitting the suspect.

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D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier said the suspect immediately began shooting his rifle as he entered the museum. The FBI said it had no earlier reports of threats against the museum.

Gunman in critical condition
Authorities said the gunman was in critical condition and the security guard was in grave condition. Both were taken to George Washington University Hospital.

A third person reportedly was hurt after being cut by broken glass.

Von Brunn is believed to have had contact with law enforcement in the past, according to NBC. A D.C. Superior Court jury convicted a man by the same name in 1983 of attempting to kidnap members of the Federal Reserve Board.

The case involved a 1981 incident in which police arrested Von Brunn at the board's headquarters carrying several weapons. He was convicted and later released from federal prison in 1989, records show.

At a Wednesday afternoon press conference, officials declined to publicly confirm Von Brunn is their suspect.

According to Joseph Persichini, assistant director in charge of the Washington FBI field office, authorities have dispatched people to a suspect's home to check his computer. He said they are investigating this as a possible hate crime or domestic terrorism.

A racist, anti-Semitic Web site called http://www.holywesternempire.org and a book called "Kill the Best Gentile" were attributed to von Brunn.


White House reaction
The White House said President Barack Obama was saddened by the shooting and concerned about the wounded guard.

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said he told Obama about the shooting on Wednesday afternoon. Gibbs later told reporters that he gave Obama the facts as they were known at the time, shortly after shots were fired.

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Gibbs says White House officials are receiving regular updates from the FBI, the Homeland Security Council and the White House Situation Room.

The museum normally has a heavy security presence with guards positioned both inside and outside. All visitors are required to pass through metal detectors at the entrance, and bags are screened.

It was not immediately known whether the gunman made it through the detectors before opening fire.

The museum, located just off the National Mall near the Washington Monument, is a popular tourist attraction. It draws about 1.7 million visitors each year.

Roads surrounding the museum have been closed and blocked off with yellow tape. Several police cars and officers on horses surround the area.

Schlosser said park police SWAT teams are doing a secondary sweep of the building, but they don't believe there is another gunman.

Students heard several shots
Sandy Perkins of Massachusetts said her daughter, Abigail, called her shortly after the shooting. The teen was on a school trip to the museum and told her mother students heard several shots before they were told to leave the building.

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Abigail said some of her friends were very shaken, but all were otherwise fine, Sandy Perkins said.

The teens did not see where the shots were coming from.

Linda Elston, who is visiting the museum from Nevada City, Calif., says she was on the lower level of the museum watching a film when she and others were told to evacuate.

"It was totally full of people," Elston said. "It took us awhile to get out."

She said she didn't hear any shots and didn't immediately know why there was an evacuation leaving her feeling "a little anxious."

The Embassy of Israel in Washington said it was "shocked and saddened" by the shooting in a statement.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations also released a statement:

"We condemn this apparent bias-motivated attack and stand with the Jewish community and with Americans of all faiths in repudiating the kind of hatred and intolerance that can lead to such disturbing incidents."




NBC News correspondent Pete Williams contributed to this report from The Associated Press.


Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31208188/

An 88 year old white supremacist ... the last gasps of a type we hope will finish dying as that generation dies out.

Manhattanite:

This old man went out with a bang; But, like many a deranged sociopath, they only get their 15 minutes of fame before they expire. What I fear is that this is a segeway for Draconian "Hate Laws" that will turn this free country, in spite of the "new Progressive administration", into a literal 1984 OCEANIA.

We don't need new laws. Heck, we can't even get people to act right with the laws that are presently on the books. What good would new laws make? Just throw the book at crimminals, instead of giving them an ankle bracelet or 5 years probation for gross crimminal acts.

I wonder if you've ever ventured outside the NYC environs? Perhaps, south of the Mason-Dixson Line? Partner, it's a mean racist country out here, son. Have you ever seen the movie "Deliverance" with John Voigh, and Burt Reynolds; It's just like that in the "outskirts". The Lil' Abners don't like ethnics or City Slickers, or Jews.....What are we to do legislate equality. Freedom for all, means freedom from tyranny and excessive legislation.

Someone is pushing these lunatics to commit heinous crimes so that a police state is achieved. It's bounde to happen; It's not a matter of if, but when. Watch the headlines, and the coming totalitarian trends. I see them on the horizons, and the psychos like this last Nazi are bringing them closer into view.

Big Brother is getting too big for my comfort!

Arsenio yes I've had the pleasure to venture many parts of USA including the southeast, though never to live just for tourism. I hear what you are saying regarding draconian laws, and also the places out there where difference is not welcome. Still I think we've progressed enough that the deranged types capable of this nuttyness are on their last legs. A black President is forcing the truly deranged to express themselves here and now. Hopefully after this wave of derangement Obama provokes, and the dying out of our older generations, the virulent racists left in a decade will be the kind who never do much beyond muttering under their breath OR simply stick to their town and the internet.