The scene outside 801 G Street NW. (Photo by @AM_Hoffman)
The investigation into the shooting this morning in the lobby of the Family Research Council is still ongoing, but a few more details have emerged about the incident that left a security guard wounded in the arm.
The shooting happened about 10:45 a.m. in the lobby of FRC’s building at 801 G Street NW, prompting Chinatown to be flooded with Metropolitan Police Department officers, FBI agents and a bomb squad, among other emergency responders. The security guard who was shot was taken to a nearby hospital and is recovering from a non-life-threatening injury.
It is possible that the suspect, before opening fire, expressed disagreement with FRC’s politics. The group is a conservative Christian lobbying organization that advocates strong right-wing positions on issues like abortion and same-sex marriage.
Fox News has reported for several hours that the alleged shooter, after being disarmed by the security guard, said, “Don’t shoot me, it was not about you, it was what this place stands for.
D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier called the security guard’s handling of the shooting heroic.
“The security guard here is a hero, as far as I’m concerned,” Lanier told reporters.
But FBI spokeswoman Rebecca Callahan told DCist the investigation is still far too preliminary to identify a motive. Agents investigating the shooting are still determining whether the shooting can be classified as an incident of domestic terrorism or as of a hate crime.
Earlier this month the Family Research Council stepped into the fray over Chick-fil-A, which has come under fire recently for its CEO’s outspoken opposition to same-sex marriage and its charitable arm’s support to conservative Christian organizations, including FRC.
A collection of 25 LGBT rights organizations released a joint statement earlier this afternoon decrying the shooting.
“The motivation and circumstances behind today’s tragedy are still unknown, but regardless of what emerges as the reason for this shooting, we utterly reject and condemn such violence,” the statement read. Among the signatories were the heads of the Human Rights Campaign, the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation and the Trevor Project.
News of the shooting has also eked into the presidential race. Presumptive Republican nominee Mitt Romney said “there is no place for such violence in our society.” Neither President Obama nor the White House have said anything about the shooting.
The 800 block of G Street remains closed down as police and FBI agents continue their joint investigation, including the deployment of a bomb squad. Callahan said agents are also waiting on a warrant to search the suspect’s car, which she said is parked at a Metrorail station.
