Pentagon shot at

[dragon]

Ok some people are just idiots. And wonder why it took this long for the news to start covering

Washington (CNN) -- Shots were fired at the Pentagon early Tuesday, authorities said, striking a window of the building.

Pentagon police spokesman Chris Layman said it's not known who fired the shots. Pentagon police officers heard at least five shots around 4:50 a.m., Layman added.

According to another Pentagon Force Protection Agency spokesman, Terry Sutherland, two bullets hit the Pentagon on the south side of the building -- one striking a window and the other hitting the building itself. This is an unoccupied part of the building that is being renovated.

Sutherland said a fragment of one of the bullets is lodged in the window. The windows, which are bullet-proof, did not shatter.

Officials will hold a news conference about the incident at 11:30 a.m. at the Pentagon.

link

[Serafina]

My bet is on the pro-DADT-crowd. But other than that, that just seems strange - no one was harmed, no one really noticed and it didn't even cause much damage - so what's the point?

[dragon]

My bet is on the pro-DADT-crowd. But other than that, that just seems strange - no one was harmed, no one really noticed and it didn't even cause much damage - so what's the point?

some body high or drunk thinking or in this case not thinking its a good idea. Afterall people tend to lose good judgement when drunk.

[Solauren]

My money is on some idiot trying to 'look tough'. Hence why they shot at an empty part of the building. No one is going to notice or care, and there is little to no chance of someone getting hurt.

This will probably be written off, and the shooter gets his jollies out of it.

[Phantasee]

I bet it's a jilted lover or a disgruntled employee. Seriously, pro-DADT = shoot the Pentagon? Wouldn't they be going after the judge in California?

[General Zod]

My bet is on the pro-DADT-crowd. But other than that, that just seems strange - no one was harmed, no one really noticed and it didn't even cause much damage - so what's the point?

I'd be more inclined to place the blame on reckless gang activity. It seems a bit early to assign any kind of motive at this point.

[Serafina]

Gang activity? Right next to the fucking PENTAGON? Seriously?
But yes, some random tough-guy/employee also makes sense, probably more so than my guess.

[General Zod]

Gang activity? Right next to the fucking PENTAGON? Seriously?

Considering the crime rate in DC it's a lot easier to swallow than some imaginary political motives. Hell, my coworker's daughter and her friends were in a nice part of the Mall in DC and got viciously assaulted by a random group of thugs a few months ago.

[Serafina]

Gang activity? Right next to the fucking PENTAGON? Seriously?

Considering the crime rate in DC it's a lot easier to swallow than some imaginary political motives. Hell, my coworker's daughter and her friends were in a nice part of the Mall in DC and got viciously assaulted by a random group of thugs a few months ago.

So you are telling me that one of your most important government buildings doesn't have a police (or military) force on standby?
Heck, regardless of whether it was a gang or a loner, that still seems pretty...bad to me. IIRC, the political quarters in Berlin have a (equivalent to) SWAT-team on standby at all times, and much heavier forces not too far away. And they aren't too shy about coming out when someone carries a weapon, either.
Considering this (if the information is not wrong), then it's pretty hilarious that the terror-scared USA has apparently no serious security at all around the Pentagon.

[General Zod]

So you are telling me that one of your most important government buildings doesn't have a police (or military) force on standby?
Heck, regardless of whether it was a gang or a loner, that still seems pretty...bad to me. IIRC, the political quarters in Berlin have a (equivalent to) SWAT-team on standby at all times, and much heavier forces not too far away. And they aren't too shy about coming out when someone carries a weapon, either.
Considering this (if the information is not wrong), then it's pretty hilarious that the terror-scared USA has apparently no serious security at all around the Pentagon.

Actually no, that's not what I'm saying, but thanks for shoving words in my mouth. It's not like any kind of police force on standby would make a difference. By the time they mobilize anything the shooter could be long gone, especially if it were a drive-by. At this point we don't even know if they were on foot or not. But really, that's the whole point of having bullet-proof windows, so they don't have to worry too much about idiots taking pot-shots at the side of the White House.

[Big Orange]

The Pentagon and other Federal buildings must be guarded by military and quasi-military guards in tactical gear as well, with the Pentagon having it's own internal police department, but this shooting sounds like a insignificant hit 'n run on the outer perimeter and the reaction teams cannot be everywhere instantly in such a large compound like the Pentagon. They might have caught something on the CCTV.

[dragon]

more info, belived to be random rifle attack from the I95 or nearby.
So a drive by on the Pentagon

Washington (CNN) -- A Pentagon official said he believes the shooting early Tuesday at the U.S. Defense Department headquarters was a "random incident."

"We are looking at all the possibilities," Steven E. Calvery, director of the Pentagon Force Protection Agency, said at a press conference late Tuesday morning. "What we have is an isolated incident, so far."

Pentagon police officers, as well as several construction workers in the area, heard at least five shots fired around 4:50 a.m., Pentagon officials said.

As of midday Tuesday, authorities had discovered two bullet fragments in third- and fourth-floor windows on the south side of the building, said Calvery. That part of the Pentagon was empty at the time of the shooting, as it is in the process of being renovated. The bullets shattered but did not go through the windows, which are bulletproof, according to Calvery.

The early-morning shooting prompted a 40-minute shutdown of the entire Pentagon, and authorities conducted an interior sweep of the building shortly after 6 a.m.

Calvery said authorities were unsure who fired the shots and with what kind of gun, though he said he believes they came from a rifle.

A portion of Interstate 395 -- which runs along the south side of the Pentagon -- was also shut down temporarily to conduct a search in the investigation. Maj. Chris Perrine, a public affairs officer for Defense Press Operations, said that other temporary road closures may be necessary as the probe continues.

Several law enforcement agencies, including the FBI and Pentagon police, are looking at surveillance footage and doing ballistics tests of the bullets found thus far, among other measures.

Tuesday's shooting follows a similar incident overnight Sunday at the National Museum of the Marine Corps in Triangle, Virginia, near the entrance of Marine Corps Base Quantico.

Lin Ezell, the museum's director, told CNN on Tuesday that investigators have determined that one or more assailants used rifles to fire ten bullets at the building -- five hitting glass windows, the rest hitting metal panels. Authorities haven't pinned down exactly where the shots were fired from, though they believe they came from Interstate 95 or nearby.

No one was hurt in that incident, which occurred between 12:15 a.m. and 5 a.m. when the building was unoccupied, Ezell said. No one has claimed responsibility and there were no known threats prior to the shooting, she added. Military police and the Prince William County Police Department are investigating that incident.

Asked if there were any ties between that and the Pentagon shootings, Calvery said, "We are aware of that incident. But we have no information that they are connected."

Tuesday's shooting was the first such incident at the U.S. Defense Department headquarters since March, when John Patrick Bedell pulled a gun from his pocket and began shooting. Bedell, who had a history of mental health problems, was later shot and killed, while two Pentagon police officers received superficial injuries in the incident

[General Zod]

In other words nothing a small army of SWAT could have possibly hoped to prevent or responded to fast enough before the shooter got away.

[Simon_Jester]

Yeah. The Pentagon doesn't normally have sandbagged defensive positions around it or anything; even if they did, what would the defenders do, start hosing I-95 down with machine gun fire in response to the rifle fusillade? That would have turned this into a disaster instead of a "Huh. Weird." moment.

[General Zod]

So you are telling me that one of your most important government buildings doesn't have a police (or military) force on standby?
Heck, regardless of whether it was a gang or a loner, that still seems pretty...bad to me. IIRC, the political quarters in Berlin have a (equivalent to) SWAT-team on standby at all times, and much heavier forces not too far away. And they aren't too shy about coming out when someone carries a weapon, either.
Considering this (if the information is not wrong), then it's pretty hilarious that the terror-scared USA has apparently no serious security at all around the Pentagon.

Actually no, that's not what I'm saying, but thanks for shoving words in my mouth. It's not like any kind of police force on standby would make a difference. By the time they mobilize anything the shooter could be long gone, especially if it were a drive-by. At this point we don't even know if they were on foot or not. But really, that's the whole point of having bullet-proof windows, so they don't have to worry too much about idiots taking pot-shots at the side of the White House.

And I just caught this now but "White House" should read "Pentagon". My brain juxtaposed the two for some reason.

[Big Orange]

The shooting could've ended differently if the gunman (likely a dissatisfied weirdo) fired his/her rifle onto a populated section of the Pentagon (high ranking officers like the rooms with exterior windows) or one of its main ground entrances. And it's not as if the White House has not been subjected to similarily hopeless and odd attacks by unbalanced loners.

[General Zod]

The shooting could've ended differently if the gunman (likely a dissatisfied weirdo) fired his/her rifle onto a populated section of the Pentagon (high ranking officers like the rooms with exterior windows) or one of its main ground entrances. And it's not as if the White House has not been subjected to similarily hopeless and odd attacks by unbalanced loners.

Only if it happened during busy hours. Thanks to the bulletproof windows it's doubtful they'd cause much damage beyond riling security.

[SVPD]

Gang activity? Right next to the fucking PENTAGON? Seriously?

Considering the crime rate in DC it's a lot easier to swallow than some imaginary political motives. Hell, my coworker's daughter and her friends were in a nice part of the Mall in DC and got viciously assaulted by a random group of thugs a few months ago.

So you are telling me that one of your most important government buildings doesn't have a police (or military) force on standby?
Heck, regardless of whether it was a gang or a loner, that still seems pretty...bad to me. IIRC, the political quarters in Berlin have a (equivalent to) SWAT-team on standby at all times, and much heavier forces not too far away. And they aren't too shy about coming out when someone carries a weapon, either.
Considering this (if the information is not wrong), then it's pretty hilarious that the terror-scared USA has apparently no serious security at all around the Pentagon.

The fact that the Pentagon got hit with weapons fire doesn't mean there's no security around it. Gunfire can travel quite a long way, and since the Pentagon is in a big city it can't have a huge standoff distance around it. They also wouldn't actually go off the Pentagon property itself to apprehend people, they'd call the DC cops for that.

Not only that, but its a big building and they may just not have been in that area. I also doubt very much that they're really spending time and effort on preventing gunfire or even RPG attacks ont he building. Its a huge building, even a .50 caliber machine gun on a tripod or an RPG wouldn't do a lot of damage. I'm sure their primary focus is on preveting vehicle bombs or package bombs from coming inside.
's

[Serafina]

Well, it just seemed very strange to me. Now that i have a closer look at it, it seems pretty understandable why there was no security response.

[General Zod]

Well, it just seemed very strange to me. Now that i have a closer look at it, it seems pretty understandable why there was no security response.

You watch too many cop shows. There's no security force in the world that could respond to a random shooting out of the blue like that in such a short amount of time. It's not like it was some press rally or other major public event.

[Big Orange]

Only if it happened during busy hours. Thanks to the bulletproof windows it's doubtful they'd cause much damage beyond riling security.

I doubt staff would've been hurt but the shooter would more likely been chased down and restrained by MPs.

[General Zod]

Only if it happened during busy hours. Thanks to the bulletproof windows it's doubtful they'd cause much damage beyond riling security.

I doubt staff would've been hurt but the shooter would more likely been chased down and restrained by MPs.

Depending on how far away he was I doubt it. He'd have to be within a very short range for them to figure out where the shot came from like that.

[Serafina]

Well, it just seemed very strange to me. Now that i have a closer look at it, it seems pretty understandable why there was no security response.

You watch too many cop shows. There's no security force in the world that could respond to a random shooting out of the blue like that in such a short amount of time. It's not like it was some press rally or other major public event.

I initially answered to the assumption that it was a gang close to the building, not a single person doing a drive-by from a considerable distance. Hence, a reaction by the security forces seemed much more likely.

[General Zod]

Well, it just seemed very strange to me. Now that i have a closer look at it, it seems pretty understandable why there was no security response.

You watch too many cop shows. There's no security force in the world that could respond to a random shooting out of the blue like that in such a short amount of time. It's not like it was some press rally or other major public event.

I initially answered to the assumption that it was a gang close to the building, not a single person doing a drive-by from a considerable distance. Hence, a reaction by the security forces seemed much more likely.

You realize a stray bullet can travel for miles, right? They don't have to be nearly as close as you seem to think. A couple of blocks would be all they need to evade security.

[Drone]

You watch too many cop shows. There's no security force in the world that could respond to a random shooting out of the blue like that in such a short amount of time. It's not like it was some press rally or other major public event.

I initially answered to the assumption that it was a gang close to the building, not a single person doing a drive-by from a considerable distance. Hence, a reaction by the security forces seemed much more likely.

You realize a stray bullet can travel for miles, right? They don't have to be nearly as close as you seem to think. A couple of blocks would be all they need to evade security.

Especially in DC where the streets are incredibly tangled, and almost seem to have no thought put into the layout of the city. Serafina, you should probably stick to things you have any some sort of clue about, because you come off as pretty dumb in this thread, and you probably aren't a stupid person.