Saturday 10-30-10

Another Fifth Columnist at work? Who knows, but know it is four military buildings.

Shots fired at Marine Corps Museum

TRIANGLE, Va. - Shots were fired at the Marine Corps Museum in Triangle -- the fourth time someone has fired at military-related buildings in the last few weeks.
No one has been hurt in the shootings, and the FBI urged the unknown gunman to surrender before someone is hurt.

"We appreciate that he is struggling right now," FBI spokeswoman Katherine Schweit said Friday. "This guy hasn't hurt anybody. We don't think he wants to. We're hoping that he'll turn himself in."

The FBI's evidence team and the Prince William County Police are on the scene investigating.

Police are on their hands and knees searching for evidence on the grounds of the museum. Police also are searching for evidence off northbound Interstate 95.

The FBI will hold a news conference at 11:30 a.m. at its field office in D.C.

Prince William County Police spokeswoman First Sgt. Kim Chinn says multiple shots were fired sometime after the museum closed Thursday night.

The FBI says it was called to the scene early Friday.

The museum is closed, but First Lt. Brian Villard with the Marine Corps base at Quantico tells WTOP they hope to reopen the museum as soon as possible.

"That's our goal, as soon as investigators are through with the scene the museum will reopen," Villard says.

Villard would not comment on any changes to security except to say, "the security of our staff and visitors is our first priority."

A Pentagon spokesman says security has not been changed at the Pentagon. There are no changes to military protocol for the U.S. Army Military District of Washington. Individual facilities are allowed to ramp up security if they believe it is necessary.

Authorities have connected all four shootings. Two of them occurred at the museum, one at the Pentagon and one at a Marine Corps recruiting station in Chantilly, Va. The same gun was used in the first three shootings.

Investigators haven't determined a motive or identified a suspect.

Security for the Marine Corp Marathon on Sunday will be beefed up and the course has changed.

Police presence across the region is expected to be more visible, in light of the recent shootings and huge rallies this weekend in the District.

"We are aware of events that have occurred in the D.C. Metropolitan area. We take all threats seriously and we continue to remain vigilant. However, the Metropolitan Police Department will not discuss certain aspects of operational preparedness for security reasons," said Police Chief Cathy L. Lanier.

While they did not comment directly on Friday's report of shots fired, Rep. Gerry Connolly and his challenger in the 11th Congressional District Keith Fimian both agreed Americans needs to remain vigilant against recurrent attacks on U.S. soil.

"We don't know whether it's a foreign threat or whether it's a domestic threat. It could be a crazed gunman who has decided to target our military," said Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., on The Politics Program with Mark Plotkin on WTOP.

"Many people want to see us done in," said Fimian, who was also on the show. "We have to be ever vigilant."

http://wtop.com/?nid=25&sid=2098485