Multiple injuries as gunshots fired at Pentagon transit stop

WASHINGTON: Gunshots were fired on Tuesday morning (Aug 3) near the entrance of the Pentagon, resulting in multiple injuries.

The facility, the headquarters of the US military, was temporarily placed on lockdown.

"The Pentagon currently is on lock down due to an incident at the Pentagon Transit Center. We are asking the public to please avoid the area," the Pentagon's security force said in a tweeted statement.

The lockdown was lifted about an hour after the initial announcement.

The Arlington County Fire Department reported “multiple patients”, but it was not immediately clear if they had been shot and the extent of their injuries were unknown.

A police officer was among those injured, according to two law enforcement officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they not authorised to discuss the investigation publicly.

The incident occurred on a Metro bus platform that is part of the Pentagon Transit Center, the Pentagon Protection Force Protection Agency tweeted. The facility is just steps from the Pentagon building, which is in Arlington County, Virginia, just across the Potomac River from Washington DC.

An Associated Press reporter near the building heard multiple gunshots, then a pause, then at least one additional shot.

Another AP journalist heard police yelling “shooter”.

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 General 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.