The Marine Corps Museum in Quantico, Va., is shown in this file photo. The FBI believes recent shootings at the Pentagon and the museum are linked. (Joe Gromelski)
The Marine Corps Museum in Quantico, Va., is shown in this file photo. The FBI believes recent shootings at the Pentagon and the museum are linked. (Joe Gromelski)
A bullet hole and shattered glass can be seen as an FBI official walks into the Marine Corps Recruiting Center at Sully Place Shopping Center in Chantilly, Va. (Amanda L. Boston/Stars and Stripes)
Members of the FBI and Fairfax County Police Department look at a bullet hole that that went through a nail salon window beside the Marine Corps Recruiting Center at Sully Place Shopping Center in Chantilly, Va. (Amanda L. Boston/Stars and Stripes)
A member of the Fairfax County Police Department looks at a bullet hole that that went through the window of the Marine Corps Recruiting Center at Sully Place Shopping Center in Chantilly, Va. (Amanda L. Boston/Stars and Stripes)
A bullet hole and shattered glass can be seen as an FBI official walks into the Marine Corps Recruiting Center at Sully Place Shopping Center in Chantilly, Va. (Amanda L. Boston/Stars and Stripes)
The FBI is looking into whether the shooting at the Marine Corps Museum in Quantico, Va., the Pentagon and the Marine Corps Recruiting Center at Sully Place Shopping Center in Chantilly, Va., are connected. (Amanda L. Boston/Stars and Stripes)
WASHINGTON – The FBI believes recent shootings at the Pentagon and National Museum of the Marine Corps are linked, and investigators are looking into a third shooting at a Marine recruiting station in a Virginia suburb of Washington to see whether it was related.
“Investigative evidence has confirmed that shots fired at the National Museum of the Marine Corps in Triangle, Va., and the Pentagon in Arlington, Va., involved a single weapon,” a bureau news release said. “Ballistics testing is underway for an overnight shooting that took place on Oct. 25 or Oct. 26 at the Marine Corps Recruiting Station in Chantilly, Va.”
The FBI declined to release further information, such as the type of weapon or caliber of ammunition used “to preserve the integrity of investigative efforts.”
The museum was hit first, early on Oct. 17, when several shots were fired, some of which hit windows, police said. No one was in the building at the time.
The Pentagon shooting happened two days later. At least six shots were fired, two of which hit exterior windows, Steven E. Calvery, head of the Pentagon Force Protection Agency, said in an Oct. 20 statement.
Then police were called on Tuesday morning to the recruiting station in Chantilly, were two bullets hit a window and a third hit an adjacent business, according to the Fairfax County Police Department.
Police do not believe anyone was in either building at the time of the shooting, a police news release said. Currently, there is no evidence that the event is linked to the other two shootings.
Marine Corps Recruiting Command deferred questions on the Chantilly shooting to the FBI.
“We are aware of the news reports and are monitoring the situation; however, the FBI is the lead agency investigating the matter so all queries should be answered by them at this time,” said Maj. John O. Caldwell.
The FBI did not immediately return a request for comment Tuesday night.
