A man involved in a domestic dispute with his wife shot and killed a guard at the U.S. Census Bureau headquarters in Suitland on Thursday, according to authorities, before leading police on a chase that ended with the suspect and another officer both wounded.
According to radio station WTOP, a spokeswoman for the Prince George’s Hospital Center said shortly after midnight that Lawrence Buckner, 59, had died of his wounds after being brought to the hospital Thursday evening.
Metropolitan Police Department Chief Cathy Lanier said at a Thursday evening news conference that the suspect, who was not immediately identified, was later shot during an exchange of gunfire with police in Northeast D.C.
The two-hour incident began as an armed kidnapping by a man against his wife in Northeast involving a green Honda Accord, led to the shooting at the Census Bureau, and ended with the chase through the city’s Southeast and Northeast quadrants during which a second officer also was wounded, police said.
After the kidnapping, the husband and wife drove to the Census Bureau, where Mr. Buckner witnessed the two arguing, approached the car and was shot multiple times.
The suspect fled and fired at the dozens of police cars that were pursuing him, until his car was disabled and he was surrounded at H Street and 11th Street in Northeast.
During a further shootout at that site, a Metropolitan Police Department Officer was shot in the leg, Chief Lanier said.
By this time, the wife was no longer with the kidnapper-gunman, although there was no immediate explanation exactly how or when she escaped. Chief Lanier told reporters the woman had been located unharmed.
There was no official word on the condition of the suspect, who took multiple wounds in the climactic shootout, and there were conflicting reports.
The U.S. Census Bureau issued an all-clear at about 9 p.m. and civilians were allowed to exit the Suitland campus. The FBI is involved in the investigation because the Census Bureau is federal property.
According to Washington TV station WRC, citing a co-worker, Mr. Buckner worked for Masters Security for 15 years and had been stationed at the Census Bureau for about 5 years.
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