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Last update - 07:53 11/06/2009
Holocaust Museum: No words to express our grief and shock
By Natasha Mozgovaya, Haaretz Correspondent and News Agencies
Tags: Washington Holocaust Museum 

The United States Holocaust Museum Director on Thursday expressed her shock at the fatal shooting that took place at the museum the day before, saying "obviously, there are no words to express our grief and shock."

Sara Bloomfield described Stephen T. Johns, the security guard killed when a neo-Nazi opened fire in the museum as "a great friend who greeted us every day with a wonderful smile - and he will be missed."

The Museum will be closed Thursday in tribute to Johns; Holocaust Museum director Sara Bloomfield said that flags at the museum have been lowered to half-staff in honor of the slain.
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Johns, who is African-American and a 1988 graduate of Crossland High School in Maryland, worked for Wackenhut Services Inc., which has contracted security services at the museum since 2002, according to a company statement. Johns had been posted at the museum since joining the firm in 2003. The museum has about 70 officers and supervisors on the force.

U.S. President Barack Obama and others commended the work of Johns and the other guards.

"We have lost a courageous security guard who stood watch at this place of solemn remembrance," Obama said in a statement. "My thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends in this painful time."

Washington D.C. Mayor Adrian M. Fenty also had words of praise.

"The men and women in uniform who put their lives on the line to ensure our safety are truly heroes, and I am deeply saddened that this senseless act of violence threatened the safety of our community," Fenty said in a statement.

The security guard died of his wounds in hospital a few hours after the attack and the assailant was listed in critical condition.

Washington Police Chief Cathy Lanier said the gunman was engaged by security guards immediately after entering the door with a rifle. The second he stepped into the building he began firing.



View Attack at Holocaust Museum in Washington in a larger map

Law enforcement officials said James W. von Brunn, an 88-year-old white supremacist, was under investigation in the shooting and that his car was found near the museum and tested for explosives. The weapon was a .22-caliber rifle, they added.

They spoke on condition of anonymity, saying they were not authorized to discuss the investigation just beginning.

Bill Parsons, chief of staff at the museum, said Johns and other guards did exactly what they were supposed to do to protect people at the museum.

"Never take your guard force and security people for granted," he said.

Lanier said the gunman appeared to have acted alone. Fire department spokesman Alan Etter told CNN a third person was hurt after being cut by broken glass.



The museum normally has a heavy security presence with guards positioned both inside and outside. All visitors are required to pass through metal detectors at the entrance, and bags are screened.

In the wake of the shootout, the New York Police Department stepped up security at the city's Museum of Jewish Heritage and other Jewish landmarks Wednesday, the New York Daily News reported.

Uniformed police officers were stationed outside the Museum of Jewish Heritage in Battery Park City minutes after the murder of a security guard in the nation's capital, according to the paper.

The attack came hours before Eric Holder, America's first black attorney general, was due to attend a play at the museum in honor of Anne Frank.

The museum, located just off the National Mall near the Washington Monument, is a popular tourist attraction. It draws about 1.7 million visitors each year.

Roads surrounding the museum were closed just after the attack.

Stephanie Geraghty, 28, who had been visiting the museum, said the shooter appeared to be a white male carrying a silver gun.

"I heard the first shot, it sounded like something had been dropped from the upper stories down," she told Reuters. "The next two came really fast - bam bam. At that point everyone took off, chaos, running."

A woman whose teenaged daughter was visiting the museum at the time of the shooting said that the children heard several gunshots before they were evacuated from the building.

Sandy Perkins says her daughter, Abigail, called her shortly after the
shooting and said some of her friends were very shaken, but otherwise were fine.

The teens did not see where the shots were coming from before they were safely evacuated to buses outside the museum.

Police search Von Brunn's home in wake of shooting

Von Brunn is being investigated as the prime suspect in the shooting at the U.S. Holocaust Museum, according to unnamed law enforcement agents, but officials have declined to publicly confirm him as their suspect.

According to Joseph Persichini, assistant director in charge of the Washington FBI field office, authorities have dispatched people to a suspect's home to check his computer. He said they are investigating this as a possible hate crime or domestic terrorism.

Von Brunn has a racist, anti-Semitic Web site and wrote a book called Kill the Best Gentile.

In 1983, Von Brunn was convicted of attempting to kidnap members of the
Federal Reserve Board. He was arrested two years earlier outside the room
where the board was meeting, carrying a revolver, knife and sawed-off shotgun.

At the time, police said Von Brunn wanted to take the members hostage because of high interest rates and the nation's economic difficulties.

On his Web site, Von Brunn says he was a PT boat captain in the U.S. Navy
Reserves during World War II.

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      1.   Shocking 20:27  |  Amos 10/06/09
      2.   Thankfully, Congress has 20:35  |  Mark Lincoln 10/06/09
      3.   i bet its a newly unemployed worker 20:41  |  matt stachelek 10/06/09
      4.   #2 Mark the shooting was anti-semitic in origin -did you get that 20:49  |  world observer 10/06/09
      5.   How can that be... DC has such strict gun control laws. 20:53  |  Erastus CoupeDeVille 10/06/09
      6.   So its OK response to kill Jews when there are no jobs 20:56  |  lily 10/06/09
      7.   Let`s See... 21:00  |  Yosemite 10/06/09
      8.   #4--not any more, Supreme Court invalidated 21:03  |  Paul Freedman 10/06/09
      9.   No Glib Comments Please 21:04  |  Shaul Ben-Yimini 10/06/09
      10.   Shooting suspect 21:05  |  Marty 10/06/09
      11.   How Long Before Someone On This Forum Blames Israel? 21:25  |  Lee 10/06/09
      12.   Mark Lincoln-Congressional Authority 21:31  |  Christopher 10/06/09
      13.   #4 World Observer, your comment is troubling 21:32  |  ballistic 10/06/09
      14.   89 Year Old White Supremicist Kook 21:32  |  Jane 10/06/09
      15.   The good news is 21:40  |  Chris Linthwaite 10/06/09
      16.   This is just another example of Chaos to come under Obama 21:47  |  Shepherd 10/06/09
      17.   "They" just don`t like Jews or Israel... 22:03  |  bat yam 10/06/09
      18.   matt #3 `i bet its a newly unemployed worker` 22:11  |  Colin Wright 10/06/09
      19.   lily #6 `So its OK response to kill Jews when there are no jobs` 22:15  |  Colin Wright 10/06/09
      20.   Matt Stachelek 3: an 89 year old recently unemployed worker? 22:23  |  Realist 10/06/09
      21.   Mark Lincoln # 2 22:29  |  Eaglebeak 10/06/09
      22.   Obama`s quick sympathy 22:31  |  gly 10/06/09
      23.   Yosemite the suspect belongs to your eternal enemies- not Arabs 22:33  |  Mahdi 10/06/09
      24.   Just horrible 22:37  |  Aphemia 10/06/09
      25.   re: 12 and 14 22:46  |  matt stachelek 10/06/09
      26.   To Mahdi #23 I agree with you 00:37  |  Isaac 11/06/09
      27.   Hate consumes the sould 00:47  |  Bazmann 11/06/09
      28.   Re:22 00:51  |  Kelly 11/06/09
      29.   No. 2, Mark Lincoln 02:01  |  Ariel 11/06/09
      30.   Right-wing anti-government nutters strike again 02:10  |  binny 11/06/09
      31.   These are dangerous times for minorities 02:13  |  Adam Rahman 11/06/09
      32.   Very Sad 03:56  |  Ibrahim 11/06/09
      33.   He`s not a Neo-Nazi 05:17  |  Dan 11/06/09
      34.   According To The Wife, The News Said... 11:19  |  Yosemite 11/06/09
      35.   MARK LINCOLN the shooter was hater with his own antisemitic websi 11:33  |  PETER SM 11/06/09
      36.   PETER SM 12:55  |  Mike from Boston 11/06/09
      37.   #30 Right-wing nutters 13:12  |  Gully Foyle 11/06/09
      38.   Brunn - American Terrorist 15:21  |  new yorker 11/06/09
      39.   # 21 Eaglebeak: So German Jews, had they had the NRA at the time 15:48  |  Anke 11/06/09
      40.   Having read the online rantings of this 88 year old man... 16:09  |  bat yam 11/06/09
      41.   new yorker 16:28  |  Mikefrom Boston 11/06/09
      42.   Anke - the `if only Jews had guns` argument 17:05  |  Mark Lincoln 11/06/09
      43.   My true and deep solace 17:35  |  Zainab Kayed Shehab 11/06/09
      44.   it is the result of the wrong israeli policy 17:36  |  Antonio da Silva 11/06/09
      45.   to Ibrahim. the law of Cause and Effect works 17:40  |  Antonio da Silva 11/06/09
      46.   MikefromBoston 17:46  |  American 11/06/09
      47.   Bigot murders Hero 17:49  |  Joan 11/06/09
      48.   Mike from boston 17:57  |  new yorker 11/06/09
      49.   #38 New Yorker 18:12  |  Mickey 11/06/09
      50.   Stephen Tyrone Johns 18:18  |  Z 11/06/09
      51.   #32 Ibrahim Very sad, Yes true and I find myself agreeing with u 18:31  |  Big Sur 11/06/09
      52.   Responsabilities 18:44  |  Gregg 11/06/09
      53.   Settlers on rampages 18:49  |  American in DC 11/06/09
      54.   New Yorker - real double standard 19:15  |  David Israel 11/06/09
      55.   2nd try Anyone who equates Holocaust to The plight of Palis. 19:24  |  BIG SUR 11/06/09
      56.   #38 New Yorker wasn`t Mc veigh a terrorist too? 19:26  |  Big Sur 11/06/09
      57.   Something Important... 19:37  |  Yosemite 11/06/09
      58.   The mentally ill are everywhere 19:45  |  David 11/06/09
      59.   #2, an armed man saved more lives 20:22  |  Mary 11/06/09
      60.   New Yorker - real double standard - 2nd try 20:39  |  David Israel 11/06/09
      61.   An Apology 21:48  |  heinz 11/06/09
      62.   To #2 and #5 21:50  |  Herman 11/06/09
      63.   Holocaust shooter denier? 21:51  |  Sam 11/06/09
      64.   New Yorker - real double standard - 3rd try 21:56  |  David Israel 11/06/09
      65.   #44 - bigsur 21:59  |  new yorker 11/06/09
      66.   Ariel # 2 How can a felon posses a shotgun 22:12  |  Eaglebeak 11/06/09
      67.   new yorker - real double standard - 4th try 22:43  |  David Israel 11/06/09
      68.   Wanna bet that on his bookshelf 23:03  |  RfaelMoshe 11/06/09
      69.   Museum under neo-nazi terror 23:14  |  The Teacher/Instruct 11/06/09
      70.   RfaelMoshe 00:01  |  Mike from Boston 12/06/09
      71.   MIKE From Boston If one does not think racist murder is an issue 00:02  |  PETER SM 12/06/09
      72.   A problem the world faces on a daily bases 01:03  |  maoriboy 12/06/09
      73.   New Yorker - real double standard - 5th try 01:19  |  David Israel 12/06/09
      74.   This Is All The Zionists Fault 01:26  |  Irony 12/06/09
      75.   Anke 39 01:46  |  Eaglebeak 12/06/09
      76.   The guard should have been Jewish, armed with 02:11  |  Witness 12/06/09
      77.   So What Else Would They Charge Him With? 03:24  |  Jeff Northridge 12/06/09
      78.   MIKE From Boston Atrocious US gun laws do not change the facts 03:42  |  PETER SM 12/06/09
      79.   A problem the world faces on a daily bases.revised 04:13  |  maoriboy 12/06/09
      80.   In the holy name of our Lord and Savior 04:35  |  Bitin Dawg 12/06/09
      81.   NAZI SCUM 05:31  |  Canadian Jew 12/06/09
      82.   Blacks & Jews are the victims 05:35  |  Aharon 12/06/09
      83.   Federal Hate Crimes Law 05:36  |  Canadian Jew 12/06/09
      84.   Neo-Nazis should be on No Fly lists 07:09  |  Canadian Jew 12/06/09
      85.   BITIN DAWG because racist haters do not want the exhibition 08:07  |  PETER SM 12/06/09
      86.   Terrorizing Jewish institutions has become acceptable in USA. 09:31  |  Sylvia 12/06/09
      87.   The bad guys 09:43  |  Antiracist 12/06/09
      88.   1st Amendment of US Constitution 01:32  |  Capt Ahab 13/06/09
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