A shooting at the metro entrance to the Pentagon Thursday left two police officers and a civilian suspect wounded and forced the US military headquarters to be put under security lockdown. “A shooting did occur. Two Pentagon force protection officers were injured. A suspect as well was injured,” said Commander Wendy Snyder. “All three were taken to a local hospital.” Metro authorities said Pentagon officials were also investigating “suspicious packages” outside the station, but the Pentagon spokeswoman was unaware of that. The Pentagon later lifted the security lockdown and reopened its entrances after deciding that the danger had passed. The shooter apparently left behind Internet postings resentful of the US government and airing suspicions about the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks. John Patrick Bedell, 36, of Hollister, California, was named as the gunman in the Thursday evening attack. Authorities said he'd had previous run-ins with the law. Investigators have found no immediate connection to terrorism, and the attack that superficially wounded two police officers at the massive Defense Department headquarters appears to be a case of “a single individual who had issues,” Richard Keevill, chief of Pentagon police, told a news conference Friday. Keevill described Bedell as “very well-educated” and well-dressed, saying Bedell was wearing a suit when he showed up at the secure Pentagon entrance about 6:40 P.M. (2340 GMT) and blended in with workers. He was concealing two 9 millimeter semiautomatic weapons and “many magazines” of ammunition. “He just reached in his pocket, pulled out a gun and started shooting” at point-blank range, Keevill said. “He walked up very cool. He had no real emotion on his face.” Bedell died Thursday night from head wounds received when the two injured officers and another officer returned fire, Keevill said. The two officers injured have been released from the hospital. One suffered a thigh wound and the other was hit in the shoulder. Keevill said both were superficial injuries. Military trials for extremists In a direct election-year challenge to US President Barack Obama on national security, lawmakers unveiled legislation Thursday requiring military interrogations and trials for suspected terrorists. The “Enemy Belligerent Interrogation, Detention, and Prosecution Act of 2010,” introduced in both the Senate and House of Representatives, also says suspects should not be told they have a right to remain silent.
