Pentagon identifies police officer killed in violence outside building

The Defense Department on Wednesday identified the police officer who died following a shooting outside the Pentagon on Tuesday as George Gonzalez, an Army veteran and member of the Pentagon Force Protection Agency.

Gonzalez was killed during what officials called a "shooting event" near the Metro bus platform just outside the Pentagon on Tuesday. The suspect was shot on the scene and did not enter the building, a Pentagon Force Protection Agency official told POLITICO.

The Pentagon was placed on lockdown following the incident. The building reopened about an hour and a half later, after officers secured the scene.

“I extend my deepest sympathies to the family, loved ones and colleagues of the Pentagon Force Protection Officer who died as a result of injuries he received this morning,” Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in a statement Tuesday night, noting that an investigation remains underway.

Austin has ordered the flags flown on the Pentagon Reservation to half-staff in honor of the officer’s death.

Gonzalez joined the Pentagon Force Protection Agency on July 22, 2018, according to a statement sent out Wednesday morning. A recipient of the Army Commendation Medal for his service in Iraq, Gonzalez previously served with the Federal Bureau of Prisons and the Transportation Security Administration. He was a native of Brooklyn, N.Y., and "a die-hard Yankees fan."

"A gregarious officer, he was well-liked and respected by his fellow officers," according to the Wednesday statement. "Officer Gonzalez embodied our values of integrity and service to others."

The Pentagon still has not provided information about the suspect.

Pentagon Police Chief Woodrow Kusse told reporters in a new briefing on Tuesday that an officer was attacked at around 10:37 a.m. Tuesday. He said gunfire was exchanged and there were “several casualties."