Pentagon attack suspect shot himself with officer’s gun, FBI reveals



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The suspect in the deadly attack outside the Pentagon on Tuesday morning committed suicide with the officer’s pistol he stabbed with a knife, the FBI has revealed.

The FBI said an individual got off a bus at the Pentagon Transit Center in Arlington, Va. Around 10:40 a.m. Tuesday and “unprovoked” attacked Pentagon police officer George Gonzalez with a knife, seriously injuring him .

Austin William Lanz, 27, a resident of Acworth, Ga., Is accused of stabbing and killing a Pentagon police officer, authorities say.

Austin William Lanz, 27, a resident of Acworth, Ga., Is accused of stabbing and killing a Pentagon police officer, authorities say.
(Cobb County Sheriff’s Office)

A fight ensued and the suspect “fatally wounded” Gonzalez before shooting himself with the officer’s service weapon.

Other Pentagon officers hired the suspect, who ultimately died at the scene, the FBI said.

The suspect was later identified as Austin William Lanz, 27.

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Gonzalez joined the Pentagon Force Protection Agency (PFPA) as a police officer on July 22, 2018, and previously served in the Federal Bureau of Prisons, the Transportation Security Administration, and the U.S. military.

The PFPA issued a statement on behalf of Gonzalez’s family, saying the agency was “heartbroken at the death of our son and brother, but we are very proud of the life he lived.”

“George dedicated his life to serving his country; first in the military and then, as a law enforcement officer, he continued to serve the members and citizens of this country,” said PFPA.

No potential motive has been announced. The FBI is investigating the case.

Court records obtained by the Associated Press show Lanz was arrested last April for breaking into a neighbor’s home in Cobb County, Georgia.

This undated photo provided by the Pentagon Force Protection Agency shows Pentagon Police Officer George Gonzalez.

This undated photo provided by the Pentagon Force Protection Agency shows Pentagon Police Officer George Gonzalez.
(PA)

It was videotaped by the security system circling the house for 13 minutes, turning on all the lights. He left without taking anything, according to arrest reports and court records.

After the owner provided the video to law enforcement, Lanz was arrested and charged with burglary and trespassing.

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While being treated at the county jail, Lanz reportedly attacked without provocation two sheriff’s deputies in the admission area, including one who suffered a chipped bone and torn ligament in his knee.

The April robbery was the culmination of a harassment campaign that involved sexually explicit and “vaguely threatening” messages that Lanz was caught on surveillance camera slipping into the house’s mailbox. neighbor where Phillip Brent and his then fiancĂ©e lived.

The harassment briefly ceased after police, to whom the video footage was shown, confronted Lanz with a warning, Brent said.

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Lanz also enlisted in the Marine Corps in October 2012, but was “administratively separated” less than a month later and never earned the title of Marine, the Corps said.

Danielle Wallace of Fox News and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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