Photo by gwoyang.

Good morning, Washington. Obviously, reaction is still pouring in regarding last night’s announcement that Osama bin Laden, mastermind of the September 11 terrorist attacks on the United States, was killed in a raid. The raid, which reportedly also led to the death of four others, including bin Laden’s adult son, resulted in the world’s most wanted man being shot in the head. bin Laden’s body was reportedly handled in accordance with Islamic tradition and buried at sea early this morning, though it was refused repatriation from Saudi Arabia, his native land. Here’s the Post’s obituary (penned by new Politics and Prose owner Bradley Graham, no less).

Of course, that’s hardly the only narrative being taken from last night’s events. The President’s role — Obama’s promised to kill bin Laden in 2008 — is being closely dissected this morning. (You can read a complete copy of Obama’s remarks from last night, explaining the circumstances which led to the al Qaeda leader’s death, here.) There’s also the interesting story of how the news leaked out via Twitter late last night. Locally, hundreds gathered outside the White House to celebrate the news — we’ll be posting our photographs from that scene shortly — while Metropolitan Police Chief Cathy Lanier said last night that the department will “heighten” its profile for the foreseeable future to combat any the risk of anti-Western violence. Metro Transit Police are also stepping up vigilance. The U.S. State Department has issued a travel warning lasting through August 1 for Americans traveling abroad.

Number of Metro Track Inspectors Halved: The Post reports that Metro has halved the number of workers it dispatches to check for cracked rails and other issues — not because of financial constraints, but for safety. Now, when two safety workers are tasked with checking a piece of track, one serves as a watchout for oncoming trains, while the other checks both sides of the tracks. Eight Metro workers have been killed in the last six years on the tracks, but obviously, there are questions about whether one person can actually do the job two used to in an efficient and complete manner.

Gandhi Defends City’s Economic Status: District CFO Nat Gandhi took to the Washington Post to defend the city from claims that it is the “least competitive place for new investment because of its taxes.” “Today, the District’s private sector is vibrant and growing,” Gandhi writes. “D.C. businesses are recovering from the recession much faster than businesses are anywhere else.” Gandhi cites steady private-sector employment rates, increases in office space occupancy and “the built-in advantages of the federal presence” to counter claims made in a recent report.

Briefly Noted: Washington Post editorial: “Keep in mind that it’s the cyclist who is more apt to come out the loser in a collision with a car”…Pedestrian struck at 14th and Euclid Streets NW…Alexandria 911 call center evacuated due to fumes…Holla Back DC! looking for safety audit volunteers for May.

This Day in DCist: Last year, a cranky Georgetown resident posted uncensored photos of drunk Georgetown students to a website hosted on the school’s servers; in 2009, we profiled D.C. United player Chris Pontius and found that Tai Shan could still manage to be cute, even during less than pleasant procedures.