Law enforcement sources have revealed the names of both the suspect and officer slain in a violent incident that occurred on a bus platform near the Pentagon Metro station.
27-year-old Austin William Lanz of Georgia is accused of stabbing to death the officer, George Gonzalez, before being fired upon by other officers at the scene on Tuesday, officials told CNN. Both died from their injuries.
One civilian bystander was also injured during the altercation, but has since been released from the hospital, according to the FBI, which described the incident in a statement released on Twitter.
“At approximately 10.40 a.m. on Tuesday, August 3, an individual exited a bus at the Pentagon Transit Center in Arlington, VA, and immediately, without provocation, attacked [Pentagon Force Protection Agency] Officer George Gonzalez with a knife, severely wounding him”, said the FBI’s Washington DC field office.
“A struggle ensued, in which the subject mortally wounded Officer Gonzalez and then shot himself with the officer’s service weapon. Other PFPA officers engaged the subject, who ultimately died at the scene”, it continued.
An official with the Department of Defense confirmed to the network that Mr Lanz enlisted in the Marine Corps but left the service before becoming a Marine; he was also reportedly awaiting trial on a number of criminal charges including making terroristic threats as well as two counts of aggravated battery on a police officer at the time of the shooting.
Mr Gonzalez was memorialized on Wednesday in a statement from White House press secretary Jen Psaki, who gave the Biden administration’s condolences to the officer’s family.
