Maybe it has not received the news coverage it warrants, but someone has been shooting at federal buildings in the Washington, D.C., area.
In five attacks that appear to target the military, notably the Marine Corps, the first shots hit the Museum of the Marine Corps in middle-of-nowhere, Triangle, Va. There were no injuries. Two days later a reported seven shots were fired and impacted the Pentagon, breaking some windows. The third shooting hit the Marine Corps recruiting station in Chantilly, Va., about 35 miles outside the District. The gunman struck the Corps’s museum a second time and also targeted a Coast Guard recruiting station.
The FBI has the lead in the investigation and has surmised the shooter is someone with a grievance against the military. (I find this deduction brilliant.) Tests show the same weapon has been used in each incident.
Unlike D.C. sniper John Allen Muhammad and his young accomplice, Lee Boyd Malvo, who held the entire D.C. metro area hostage with their random killings in 2002, these seem like pot shots, maybe warning shots, at military real estate. Will the violence escalate? Is there a message? Is the shooter a disgruntled vet? Family member? A person with a beef with the military or more specifically the Marine Corps? (That’s a rather large club.)
Sure the shooter has committed some firearm violations and the whole federal property aspect presents a problem, but it seems he or she has remained solidly on Virginia terra and not federal soil. Is this any more than federal vandalism?
Lack of blood has meant a lack of coverage. Is this shooter a criminal or folk hero? Is he or she a victim of some action (or inaction) on the part of the military or possibly the Veterans’ Administration?
The shooter could be just about anyone.