August 15, 2012
by Karla Dial of Citizenlink
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is treating a shooting at the Washington, D.C., headquarters of the Family Research Council (FRC) as an act of domestic terrorism, after a lone gunman shot a security guard there earlier today.
The gunman — 28-year-old Floyd Corkins of Herndon, Va., who reportedly posed as an intern and may have had more than one weapon — entered the group’s Chinatown office making statements about its conservative policy positions, then allegedly opened fire when a security guard asked him where he was going. The guard, Leo Johnson, was struck in the arm before he managed to wrestle the shooter to the ground and disarm him.
Witnesses told reporters that afterward, the gunman said, “Don’t shoot me, it was not about you, it was what this place stands for.”
At press time, Johnson was in stable condition, and the shooter was being questioned by the FBI.
“We don’t know enough about him or his circumstances to determine what his connection is to this group or his mental state, or what he was doing or thinking of doing,” Washington Field Office Assistant Chief James McJunkin told FoxNews.com. “So we’re going to try to sort this all out, pull the evidence together, do all the interviews we can.”
Focus on the Family President Jim Daly said the entire staff of Focus on the Family is praying for Johnson and everyone else at FRC.
“Senseless shootings like this are always tragic; but there’s an extra measure of sadness and disbelief when it hits so close to home. We are thankful that the heroic security guard who subdued his alleged shooter was not more seriously wounded,” he said.
“Early indications are that FRC may have been targeted for its biblical views on social-policy issues. That is a chilling thought. No person or group of any ideological stripe — left, right or center — should have to fear physical violence for passionately articulating and acting on their deeply help convictions in the realm of public policy. That is the very definition of terrorism.”