Pentagon lockdown lifted after shooting incident

WASHINGTON: An officer was stabbed to death and several people were wounded on Tuesday during a burst of violence at a transit station outside the Pentagon, officials said.

A suspect was shot by the law enforcement and died at the scene.

The Pentagon, the headquarters of the US military, was temporarily placed on lockdown after gunshots were fired Tuesday morning near the entrance to the building. A Pentagon police officer who was stabbed later died, reports the international media. The connection between the shooting and the stabbing of the officer was not immediately clear. The authorities did not immediately provide details or the sequence of events.

The incident occurred on a Metro bus platform that is part of the Pentagon Transit Center and just steps from the Pentagon, according to the Pentagon Protection Force Protection Agency.

The facility is just steps from the Pentagon building, which is in Arlington County, Virginia, just across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C.

Multiple gunshots were heard, then a pause, then at least one additional shot. A Pentagon announcement said the facility was on lockdown due to “police activity.”

The agency responsible for security at the building, the Pentagon Force Protection Agency, tweeted shortly before noon that the scene of the incident was secure. The lockdown was lifted except for the area around the crime scene. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, were at the White House meeting with President Joe Biden, at the time of the shooting.