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John Patrick Bedell (May 20, 1973 – March 5, 2010) was the perpetrator in an incident on March 4, 2010, where he shot at two Pentagon police officers. They returned fire and struck him in the head. He died a few hours later on March 5.

Shooting

The suit-wearing gunman was killed after shooting at and injuring two Pentagon police officers. The shooting occurred around 6:40 p.m during the evening rush-hour outside the Metro station entrance. As he neared the security checkpoint Bedell was reported to appear to be "pretty calm." Then as the officers started to ask for his pass "he drew a weapon from his pocket and started shooting," The officers, and another officer who came to their aid and also fired, defended themselves, shooting their attacker, and the gunfire was over in less then a minute. Bedell was armed with two 9 mm semiautomatic firearms and had several spare loaded magazines, Chief Richard Keevill of the Pentagon Force Protection Agency reported. Authorities found more ammunition in his car, parked in a local parking garage.

The two injured officers, named as Jeffrey Amos and Marvin Carraway, were soon released from the hospital. One had a thigh wound, and the other had a shoulder wound. Both injuries were superficial.

Response

All the Pentagon's entrances were secured after the attack except one from the subway. All were reopened according to Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman. The Metro station had also been reopened by 8 p.m except the entrance nearest the area of the shooting. Whitman said the subway entrance was likely to remain closed overnight at least.

The subway station is immediately next to the Pentagon. Re-designed after the 9/11 attacks, commuters no longer go directly into the building. Instead they must ride an escalator to the surface and pass through security outside buildings doors, where more security is located.

Perpetrator

Bedell was a computer programmer from Hollister, California. He had been involved with Linux programming at least since 1996.

"He was always on time. Always prepared. Always asking that great question that sparked further discussion," San Jose State University Professor David Parent said about Bedell, whose nickname was "JP." "I just feel for his family. I want his father to know that I remember him fondly.

He graduated from University of California, Santa Cruz, 1992 – 1994, B.S., Physics. He also attended San Jose State University, 1995 – 1996 studying Biochemistry.

Beliefs

Bedell was described as motivated by a hatred of the federal government and an expressed desire to expose what he considered an injustice in the case of a military suicide he argued was a coverup. He was reported to have stated that bringing attention to what he felt was military corruption would "see that justice is served in the death of Colonel James Sabow, as a step toward establishing the truth of events such as the September 11 demolitions and institutions such as the coup regime of 1963 that maintains itself in power through the global drug trade, financial corruption, and murder, among other crimes."

Bedell also envisioned a system which required "billions and billions of carefully cultivated, highly valuable cannibis plants growing through the United States with complete security of property." This was to have been the basis for a proposed a new monetary system based on the value of a gram of cannabis.

References

1. ^ My Fox Boston (March 5, 2010). "Officials: Pentagon shooting suspect dies". My Fox Boston. Retrieved March 5, 2010.
2. NBC News (March 5, 2010). "Pentagon gunman sought 'truth' about 9/11". MSNBC. Retrieved March 5, 2010.
3. ^ Officers Hurt, Gunman Killed In Pentagon Shooting MyFox DC Mar 05, 2010. Accessed Friday, Mar 05, 2010
4. ^ Official: Pentagon shooter was well armed Associated Press on www.chron.com March 5, 2010. Accessed March 5, 2010
5. John Patrick Bedell (September 21, 1996). "Adobe Acrobat". Indiana University. Retrieved March 5, 2010.
6. San Jose Mercury News (March 5, 2010). "Professor: Pentagon shooter was a top engineering student at SJSU". San Jose Mercury News. Retrieved March 5, 2010.
7. John Patrick Bedell. "J. Patrick Bedell". LinkedIn. Retrieved March 5, 2010.

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