WASHINGTON — Stephen Johns, a 39-year-old security guard, was described by his boss as an “outstanding colleague who greeted us every day with a smile.”
Apparently Johns did not have time to react when James W. von Brunn walked into the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, near the National Mall.
“Immediately upon entering the front doors of the museum, he raised the rifle and started shooting,” Washington Police Chief Cathy Lanier said of von Brunn, adding that he “was engaged by security guards, and there was an exchange of gunfire.”
When the smoke cleared, von Brunn was critically wounded. The only casualty among the guards was Johns, who lived in Prince George’s County, Md. At least one bullet from a small-caliber rifle hit Johns in his upper-left torso, according to Johns’ employer, the Wackenhut security firm.
“Two other . . . armed security officers opened fire with their service revolvers,” the company said. “The intruder was hit at once and rendered noneffective.”
Although Johns was armed with a .38-caliber revolver, he apparently did not have time to draw the weapon before the shooter opened fire.
Johns died at George Washington University Hospital.
“There are no words to express our grief and shock over these events,” the museum said in a statement. “He served on the museum’s security staff for six years. Our thoughts and prayers go out to Officer Johns’ family.”
“People here knew him as a very friendly, cheerful guy,” said a museum employee who is not authorized to speak with the news media and did not want to be identified.
Johns’ sister, Jacqueline Carter, declined to comment as she entered her home in Temple Hills, Md. A man who was driving her said, “She’s in bad shape right now.”
Johns, a 1988 graduate of Crosslands High School in Temple Hills, lived in an apartment in the Temple Hills area. Friends said he had a son.
Wackenhut describes itself as the U.S. government’s “largest contractor for professional security services.”
An official with the union that represents Wackenhut employees at the museum said Johns was paid about $20 an hour.
Assane Faye, the Washington district director of the Security, Police and Fire Professionals of America, said that during contract negotiations with Wackenhut two years ago, the union pressed for company-issued protective vests. Although Wackenhut seemed open to the idea, vests have not been issued, Faye said.
Susan Pitcher, a Wackenhut spokeswoman, declined to comment on the shooting beyond the company’s statement.
