News

Bullet Hit White House — Two bullets have been discovered on the White House grounds after Friday night’s shooting incident. Oscar Ramiro Ortega is wanted in connection with the shooting. The 21-year-old was stopped by Arlington County Police on the morning of the shooting for suspicious behavior, but ultimately he was photographed and released. Ortega might have been squatting in a vacant home in North Arlington. [NBC Washington]

County Board to Vote on Massage Regulation — The Arlington County Board is expected to vote over the weekend on whether to effectively deregulate the massage industry in Arlington. The industry was first regulated in the mid-20th century due to the use of massage parlors as a front for prostitution.


News

Gunfire was heard around 9:30 Friday night on the 1600 block of Constitution Avenue NW, near the White House. According to news reports, a driver was later seen abandoning a car and fleeing across the Memorial Bridge into Arlington. An AK-47 rifle was recovered, according to the Secret Service.

The Highland Park/Overlee Knolls listserv is now abuzz with word that Oscar Ortega, who is wanted by U.S. Park Police for carrying a dangerous weapon in connection with the incident, may have been staying in their neighborhood.


News

Pentagon Suspect Suspected in Shootings — The man whose arrest prompted authorities to shut down Washington Boulevard during the Friday morning rush hour is now being investigated for a possible connection to a mysterious series of incidents of shots fired at the Pentagon and various Northern Virginia sites linked to the Marine Corps. Yonathan Melaku, a 22-year-old Marine reservist, is currently being held at a Loudoun County jail. [Inside Nova]

Arlington Cabbies Stage Sit-In — Arlington taxi drivers surprised county officials by packing into a Arlington County office yesterday in protest of regulations that they say give the owners of taxi companies too much control over drivers. [Washington Examiner]


News

The FBI is also investigating a third shooting, which took place overnight at a Marine Corps Recruiting Station in Chantilly.

Each shooting is believed to have taken place at night, but one wonders whether the pattern of targeting Marine Corps-related sites could be worrisome to organizers of this weekend’s Marine Corps Marathon, which will take runners on a 26.2 mile course through Arlington and the District.


News

Outside Pardus’ home on South Kenmore Street in Nauck tonight, a steady stream of reporters and television news crews stopped by to interview neighbors about the man who just hours earlier was the biggest story on the national news.

Pardus had allegedly shot a doctor in the abdomen at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore after becoming “emotionally distressed” about the prognosis for his ailing, elderly mother. Then, as police surrounded the hospital room he had holed up in, Pardus fatally shot his mother, then himself.


Around Town

Pentagon Reviewing Change to Security Checkpoints Near Metro Station — At the behest of local transportation officials, Pentagon brass will be reviewing proposed changes to the security checkpoints near the Pentagon Metro Station. The changes, which follow the March shooting that left two security guards wounded and the suspect dead, would move the checkpoints closer to the station. Local officials worry the move could create long security lines that would disrupt the flow of commuters in and out of the station.

Arlington Spy Suspects Transferred to New York — Say goodbye to the (accused) Russian spies who loved Arlington. A judge has ordered that Michael Zottoli, Patricia Mills and Mikhail Semenko be transferred to New York. Attorneys for the three tried to keep them in Virginia, but a federal court judge ordered the transfer yesterday. There’s word that the ten accused spies may be swapped with Russia for an imprisoned nuclear scientist convicted of spying for the United States.


News

Police were first alerted to the shooting when the man was dropped off at the Virginia Hospital Center ER with a non-life-threatening gunshot wound to the leg. After a short investigation, police were able to find and arrest the suspect — which wasn’t too hard because he was still hanging out near where the shooting occurred.

MALICIOUS WOUNDING-ARREST 05/10/10, 2400 block of S. Shirlington Road. On May 9 at 11:50 pm, two men argued and one man shot the other in the leg. Police located the suspect. Michael Nash, 57, of no fixed address was charged with Malicious Wounding, Use of a Firearm in Commission of a Felony, and Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted felon. He was held without bond.


News

After parking his car in a nearby garage, Bedell, wearing a business suit, carried two semiautomatic handguns and a large quantity of ammunition with him as he approached a Pentagon entrance outside the Metro station, according to police.

Two Pentagon police officers, both highly-trained former service members, were slightly wounded when Bedell opened fire. The officers, along with a third officer, returned fire, striking and ultimately killing Bedell, according to the Washington Post.


News

The Pentagon Metro will be closed Friday morning as the FBI investigates Thursday night’s shooting. It’s not known when the station will reopen.

Meanwhile, CBS News is reporting that the suspect in the shooting has died. The suspect was shot in the head by police after he shot two officers, various news outlets have reported.


News

The press conference outside the Pentagon Metro station has revealed new details about tonight’s shooting. Pentagon police chief Richard Keevill said that a lone shooter approached officers manning a checkpoint near an entrance to the station, calmly drew a hand gun, and opened fire.

He “did not say a word,” Keevill said.


News

The Pentagon is currently holding a press briefing on tonight’s shooting. Here’s a statement issued by the DoD:

“A shooting incident has occurred at the Pentagon Metro Entrance this evening at approximately 6:40 p.m. EST. Two Pentagon Force Protection Agency (PFPA) officers were injured when an unknown suspect fired at them. The suspect was injured in return fire from the PFPA officers. Injuries to the two PFPA officers do not appear to be life threatening. A suspect is in custody and his condition is unknown [update: ‘very critical’]. All three injured have been taken to a local hospital. All Pentagon entrances were secured for a brief time but have since been reopened with the exception of the Pentagon Metro entrance. The incident is under investigation. More details will be released when available.”


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