National And World News

WASHINGTON (CBS) ― Two people were shot when a gunman, reportedly an 88-year-old white supremacist, exchanged fire with security guards at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. Wednesday, authorities said. A museum guard has died of his injuries, CBS News reported. The alleged shooter, tentatively identified as James von Brunn, is in critical condition.

The slain guard was Stephen Tyrone Johns, CBS News has learned.

"Officer Stephen Tyrone Johns died heroically in the line of duty today," the museum's chairman, vice-chairman, and director said in a statement. "There are no words to express our grief and shock over these events. He served on the Museum's security staff for six years. Our thoughts and prayers go out to Officer Johns' family."

The museum will be closed tomorrow in Johns' memory, and its flags will be flown at half-mast, the statement said.

At the White House, just blocks away from the museum, President Barack Obama said, "This outrageous act reminds us that we must remain vigilant against anti-Semitism and prejudice in all its forms. No American institution is more important to this effort than the Holocaust Museum, and no act of violence will diminish our determination to honor those who were lost by building a more peaceful and tolerant world."

Police Chief Kathy Lanier said the gunman appeared to have acted alone. He was "engaged by security guards immediately after entering the door" with a rifle, she said, but "the second he stepped into the building he began firing."

The shooter has been tentatively identified as James von Brunn - allegedly affiliated with white supremacist Web sites, law enforcement officials told CBS News correspondent Bob Orr.

Authorities told the Associated Press von Brunn's van was located around the museum and was tested for explosives.

U.S. Park Police Sgt. David Schlosser said the suspect walked into the museum with what he described as "long gun" and exchanged fire with security guards. The extent of the injuries weren't immediately known.

U.S. Park Police initially gave slightly different information, saying three people had been shot. Fire department spokesman Alan Etter told CNN a third person was hurt after being cut by broken glass.

According to a Web site featuring von Brunn's writings, the suspect is described as a World War II veteran and Mensa member who spent over six years in prison after he "attempted to place the treasonous Federal Reserve Board of Governors under legal, non-violent, citizens arrest."

According to an archived Washington Post story , von Brunn was found guilty in 1983 of attempting to kidnap Federal Reserve officials.

One of his writings advertised on the site was described as a "hard-hitting expose" uncovering a Jewish conspiracy to "destroy the White gene pool."

An address listing shows a James von Brunn residing in an apartment in Annapolis, Maryland.Writings attributed to Von Brunn on the Internet say the Holocaust was a hoax and decry a Jewish conspiracy to "destroy the white gene pool."

"At Auschwitz the 'Holocaust' myth became Reality, and Germany, cultural gem of the West, became a pariah among world nations," it says.

In his account of his "Federal Reserve caper," the St. Louis native relates his "character shapers" -- among them a schoolyard bully who beat him up, vacation days on the Mississippi River, his service on a PT boat in World War II, and what he said was his first trouble with the law -- a year in jail for tussling with a sheriff on Maryland's Eastern Shore in 1968, the year he moved to the area from New York City.

Von Brunn applied to have his art shown at the Troika Gallery in Easton, Md., around the time the gallery opened about 12 years ago, two of the owners, Laura Era and Jennifer Wharton, told The Associated Press. They said they turned him down because it was not up to their quality and that made Von Brunn angry.

"He stomped out," Wharton said. "You don't normally get that reaction from artists."

They say his work was not strange or violent, but the artists they show have many years of professional experience. They said Von Brunn's work depicted images such as horses and buffalo in the American West or an eagle with the U.S. flag.

Era and Wharton said they had heard that Von Brunn had been in jail because of his political beliefs and knew that he had prejudices. They did not feel comfortable around him, but said they didn't want to make him an enemy.

One time Von Brunn arrived at the gallery livid because he had just seen a mixed race couple getting married at the garden of the historical society nearby, Era and Wharton said.

Von Brunn was not around for years, but turned up a year or two ago. He did not spend as much time at their gallery as before and they did not encourage him to, the women said.

Von Brunn's biography on the artists' directory askart.com says his father, Elmer, was superintendent of Scullin steel mill of St. Louis, and their family, on both sides, migrated from Germany and Austria in 1845 or near that year. He is listed as producing portraits, illustrations, graphics and more.

Von Brunn's accounts of what shaped his character as a boy and young man are heavy with dark episodes blamed on Jews and other minorities. After each account, he draws a "moral."

Among them:

"Life and Death are opposite sides of the same coin. Fate flips the coin."

"Things to be proud of often involve high risk. You can't hide from death. It always finds you."

"It's better to be strong than right -- unless you like dying. Crowds hate good guys."

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said the White House is receiving regular updates from the FBI, Homeland Security Council and the Situation Room.

The museum normally has a heavy security presence with guards positioned both inside and outside the museum. All visitors are required to pass through metal detectors at the entrance, and bags are screened.

The museum, located just off the National Mall near the Washington Monument, is a popular tourist attraction. It draws about 1.7 million visitors each year.

Roads surrounding the museum have been closed.

Sandy Perkins of Massachusetts said her daughter, Abigail, called her shortly after the shooting. The teen was on a school trip to the museum and told her mother students heard several shots before they were told to leave the building.

Abigail said some of her friends were very shaken, but all were otherwise fine, Sandy Perkins said.

The teens did not see where the shots were coming from.

In a statement, Israeli Embassy officials said they were "shocked and saddened by today's shooting incident at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington. The Embassy of Israel condemns this attack and is closely following the situation."

(© 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

WBZ's Most Popular

• Victoria's Secret Fashion Show 2009
• Best Picture Blunders
• Government Recalls 2.1m Drop-Side Cribs
• Watch Latest Weather Forecast