A lone gunman entered the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday afternoon, opening fire and killing a security guard before other guards could fire back and subdue him.
A lone gunman entered
the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C., on
Wednesday afternoon, opening fire and killing a security guard
before other guards could fire back and subdue him.
The suspect was
identified as James W. von Brunn, 88, of Annapolis, Md., whom
The Washington Post
describes as a "longtime, 'hard-core'" white supremacist
and anti-Semite. He remains in critical condition at George
Washington University Hospital.
The security guard,
Stephen T. Johns, 39, of Temple Hills, Md., died of a gunshot
wound to the chest. An African-American, he worked for the
museum, one of the city's most popular attractions, for six
years.
The Human Rights
Campaign was among many groups that issued a statement
condemning the violence. "Today's shooting brings great
sadness to all of us who are committed to stopping senseless
violence motivated by hate," said president Joe Solmonese.
"This is a sad reminder of how far we still have to
go."
The shooting occurred
less than two weeks after the murder of abortion doctor George
Tiller in Wichita, Kan. The killings sparked concern about a
rise in hate-motivated violence by the right-wing fringe
following the election of President Barack Obama, an
issue cited by the
Southern Poverty Law Center
in its annual report on hate.
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