Shooting reported near Pentagon, complex locked down

A policeman patrols near the site where a shooting incident occurred at a Metro station near the Pentagon, the United States, on March 4, 2010. Three people were shot in a shooting incident at a Metro station near the Pentagon Thursday evening. The military locked down the complex after the shooting. (Xinhua/Zhang Jun)
Three people were shot in a shooting incident at a Metro station near the Pentagon Thursday evening. The military locked down the complex after the shooting.

Two Pentagon police officers and a suspected shooter were shot in the incident. The officers are with the Pentagon Force Protection Agency, according to Chris Layman, spokesman for the agency. He said they have one suspected shooter in custody.

Layman said the male suspect walked up to the main entrance of the Pentagon at around 6:40 p.m., and opened fire. He hit two officers, both sustained non-life-threatening injuries. The officers fired back, hitting the suspect, who sustained more serious injuries.

The injured were later taken to George Washington Hospital in Washington, DC, just across the Potomac river from Pentagon.

After the shooting, the Pentagon was locked down, with all entrances to it closed, and no people were allowed in or out. CNN said FBI agents were seen at the scene.

Pentagon is a huge, five-sided office complex in Arlington County, Virginia, just outside Washington, DC. The building houses the Department of Defense.

The Pentagon is the world's largest office building by floor area. On Sept. 11, 2001, a hijacked American airliner crashed into the western side of the Pentagon, killing 189 people, including 64 people aboard the plane and 125 working in the building.

Source: Xinhua