WASHINGTON: A police officer was killed at the Pentagon’s mass transit terminal on Tuesday after an attack that forced a lockdown of the US military headquarters. The attacker was shot dead.

Employees in the US Defence Department office complex in Arlington, a suburb of Washington, were ordered to shelter in place for more than an hour after gunfire erupted in the bus and subway station just metres from the Pentagon entrance.

Officials said the site was secure 90 minutes after the incident, but declined to explain what happened.

“The incident is over, the scene is secure, and most importantly there’s no continuing threat to our community,” said Woodrow Kusse, chief of the Pentagon Force Protection Agency, which partols the iconic five-sided building.

The security chief said there were “several injuries”, but would not confirm reports that one of his officers was stabbed and died from injuries, and that the attacker was shot dead.

Other officials offered condolences over the reported death.

“I’m incredibly saddened to learn about the passing of a Pentagon police officer, who was killed earlier this morning in a senseless act of violence outside the Pentagon,” said Senator Mark Warner, who chairs the Senate Intelligence Committee.

Scores of police gathered outside the George Washington University Hospital in Washington where the officer was taken.

Subway services were temporarily suspended and buses headed to the station were diverted to other stops.

Published in Dawn, August 4th, 2021