USA: Authorities charge elderly man with murder in Holocaust Memorial Museum shooting

Record ID: 324713

  • Title: USA: Authorities charge elderly man with murder in Holocaust Memorial Museum shooting
  • Date: 12th June 2009
  • Summary: WASHINGTON, D.C. UNITED STATES (JUNE 11, 2009) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) KATHY ROWE, A VISITOR FROM ALASKA, SAYING: "It's heightened kind of our awareness and our realization that when we're in places like this where there's a lot of important things going on, important people, there's more of a risk." FLOWERS OUTSIDE MUSEUM POLICE KEEPING WATCH OUTSIDE MUSEUM JOANNA GRATZ BRINGING ROSES TO MUSEUM (SOUNDBITE) (English) JOANNA GRATZ, A STUDENT, SAYING: "These people who died in the Holocaust died giving their lives for the faith and this man was able to live in memory of them and die in protection of not just others around but also in protection of what's kind of a holy site. It really means a lot to me that he was a righteous individual. He was a very good man." FLOWERS OUTSIDE MUSEUM
  • Embargoed: 27th June 2009 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Usa
  • Country: USA
  • Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement
  • Reuters ID: LVA7020FL6JWYBPMG9QNW1AY2OTU
  • Story Text: Authorities charged James von Brunn, an elderly man with links to a website that expresses anti-government and anti-Jewish sentiments, with murder on Thursday (June 11, 2009) in the shooting death of a security guard at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington.
    FBI agents said the incident is also being investigated as a possible hate crime or a case of domestic terrorism.
    Police say the 88-year-old man entered the museum Wednesday with a .22-caliber rifle and opened fire. Security guard Stephen Tyrone Johns was fatally shot. Von Brunn was critically injured when guards returned fire. He is being treated in a hospital.
    At a press conference on Thursday, Washington Mayor Adrian Fenty praised the bravery of Stephen Tyrone and the other security officers at the Holocast Memorial Museum.
    "We want to pause to just thank and acknowledge the heroism not only of our fallen officer Johns but all of the officers who stood. Their efforts yesterday to bring this gunman down so quickly literally saved the lives of countless people. As was chronicled yesterday, there were thousands of people inside the Holocaust Museum and one life lost is a tragedy but this could have been much, much worse," Fenty said.
    Officer John's mother, Jacqueline Carter described her son as a "beautiful person."
    "He liked his job and he worked a lot. It would be just like him to try and protect people from harm," Carter said.
    Police surrounded the museum Thursday, investigating the shooting. The museum, located near the National Mall, is a memorial to the six million Jews killed by Nazis in the Holocaust.
    About a dozen bunches of flowers were left to honor the fallen officer.
    Jewish student Joanna Gratz left roses in memory of Officer Johns.
    "It really means a lot to me that he was a righteous individual. He was a very good man," Gratz said.
    Outside the Washington's Jewish Community Center the flag flew at half staff. A police car was parked outside the building's entrance as a precaution against copycat incidents.
    Federal officials looked for evidence in von Brunn's apartment in Annapolis, Maryland on Wednesday night. Von Brunn ran an anti-Semetic website called "Holy Western Empire."
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