Gun fight at US Holocaust museum

Unconfirmed US reports say the gunman is 89 and linked to white supremacists.

Guard, gunman shot at Holocaust Museum

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A lone gunman shot a security guard at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum on Wednesday before being wounded himself by return fire from other guards, police said.

The wounded guard later died, according to CNN affiliate WJLA, citing fire and police officials.

The suspect was identified as James von Brunn, an 88-year-old white supremacist from Maryland, two law enforcement officials told CNN.

The gunman entered the museum at 12:50 p.m. with a rifle and immediately shot a museum security guard, said Chief Cathy Lanier of the District of Columbia's Metropolitan Police Department. Two other security guards returned fire, wounding the gunman, she said.

Both the gunman and a security guard were taken to George Washington University Hospital, where the gunman was in "critical" condition and the security guard in "grave" condition, said D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty. Neither Lanier nor Fenty would identify the gunman or the wounded security guard.

Emergency vehicles converged on the area, which is near the Washington Monument and other popular tourist attractions. The museum was full at the time, with a "couple of thousand" people inside, said William Parsons, the chief of staff.

"Never take your guard force and security people for granted," Parsons said. "They did exactly what they were supposed to do to protect people in the museum."

An FBI official said there was no prior warning or threat against the museum. In a later statement, the FBI said members of its National Capital Response Squad and Joint Terrorism Task Force are taking part in the investigation.

Lanier said the area around the museum was checked by bomb-sniffing dogs as a matter of routine.

President Obama was made aware of the incident, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs told reporters.

"I walked in and I told him there had been a shooting at the museum," Gibbs said, adding that Obama was "obviously concerned for the security guard that appears to have been hurt ... obviously saddened by what has happened."See where the museum is located »

A witness, who identified herself as 19-year-old Maria without providing a last name, told CNN she heard five shots and saw a security guard lying wounded on the ground.

"It was definitely a security guard, he was down bleeding on the floor," she said. "He was face down. His back ... blood was coming out."VideoWatch Maria describe what she saw »

Dave Pearson, a sixth-grade teacher in the Washington area, said he was on the museum's fourth floor when he heard a loud noise.

"At the time, we're visiting and all of a sudden there's like a boom, and all of a sudden they told us to stop where we're at," he told CNN's Ed Henry.

"Only thing we heard was a boom, and that was it." VideoWatch another museum visitor tell what he saw »

A woman who did not give her name said she understood the shooting happened inside the museum near the security checkpoint at the entrance.

She said she was quickly evacuated.

"We did see yellow tape down the hall when we were being rushed out," she said. "They came in and said we had to leave right away, and they got us out."

The museum was closed for the rest of the day, and the museum statement said: "Our thoughts and prayers go out to the officer and his family."

The FBI says it found child pornography on a computer used by the man charged with the fatal shooting of a security guard at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum June 10.