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Security Guard Shot at Conservative Family Research Council in D.C.
Local and federal investigators work to gather evidence after a security guard was shot in the arm at the headquarters of the Family Research Council August 15, 2012 in Washington, DC. The shooter is in FBI custody and has not yet been charged, authorities said. (Getty Images)

Security Guard Shot at Conservative Family Research Council in D.C.

Fox: 'Made statements regarding their policies' "Don't shoot me, it was not about you, it was what this place stands for."

A security guard was shot and wounded at the headquarters of the conservative Family Research Council in downtown Washington, D.C. Wednesday morning, authorities said.

D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier said the gunman walked into the building's lobby at about 10:45 and was confronted by the security guard asking him where he was going, the Washington Post reported. Lanier said the man took out a gun and opened fire on the guard before being wrestled to the ground and disarmed. He was taken into FBI custody.

Fox News reported the suspect, who has not been identified, was posing as an intern when he came in and voiced disagreement about the organization's policy positions. The Family Research Council is a socially conservative nonprofit that advocates for traditional marriage and against abortion.

A source who works at the Family Research Council told TheBlaze the man was aggressive when walked into the lobby. The source said the man took out a gun and fired while two security guards wrestled him to the ground.

According to Fox, when the suspect's gun was taken away, he said: "Don't shoot me, it was not about you, it was what this place stands for."

The injured guard, identified by TheBlaze's source as Leo Johnson, was shot in the arm but was conscious and breathing. He was transported to a local hospital.

“The security guard here is a hero, as far as I’m concerned,” Lanier said. ”He did his job. The person never made it past the front.”

Authorities were treating the case as an act of domestic terrorism, according to Fox.

"The police are investigating this incident," Family Research Council President Tony Perkins said in a statement. "Our first concern is with our colleague who was shot today. Our concern is for him and his family."

According to the Post, James McJunkin, the head of the FBI’s Washington field office, said authorities have not yet established a motive for the shooting.

“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,” McJunkin said. “So we’re going to try to sort this all out, pull the evidence together, do all the interviews we can.”

On Wednesday afternoon, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives announced it too had joined the investigation, "tracing the recovered firearm & gathering info."

This post has been updated since it was first published.

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