Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, November 23, 1994 TAG: 9411230154
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
It was not immediately clear why the shooting started, but Police Chief Fred Thomas said the gunman had brought a semiautomatic rifle into a squad room on the third floor of police headquarters.
The three dead officers were assigned to a joint FBI-police task force that works on unsolved murders. Thomas said the gunman and two other people were being interviewed by members of that ``cold case squad.''
Thomas described the three as ``either witnesses or suspects'' in cases, but he declined to provide further details. He also would not identify any of the three. One survivor was wounded and the other was unharmed but in custody, he said.
``As far as we're concerned right now, right now there was a lone gunman,'' Thomas said. ``There were other individuals in the area at the time and we're continuing our investigation to determine if they were connected.''
Of the gunman, Thomas said, ``We don't know if he committed suicide or he was shot and killed'' by officers in the squad room.
He said investigators were reviewing security precautions in the building, which also houses several other city offices.
The dead officers were identified as Sgt. Henry Joseph Daly, 51, supervisor of the cold case squad; Martha Dixon Martinez, 35, and Michael John Miller, 41, both FBI agents assigned to the squad.
Thomas said the gunman ``showed up in that room; we believe he had been interviewed before'' by metropolitan police.
After the shooting started about 3:30 p.m., Thomas said, other officers dragged Daly and one of the FBI agents from the squad room. A civilian also ``managed to crawl from the room despite a gunshot wound to the leg,'' Thomas said.
Emergency response officers evacuated and sealed the building and set up outside the squad room. A police negotiator talked with someone in the room, though police would only identify him as ``a subject.''
A half-hour later - an hour after the first shots were fired - the emergency team broke into the room and found three wounded people - two FBI agents and a civilian. A fourth person was not harmed.
It was not clear which civilian was the gunman. Thomas said the emergency team officers did not fire their weapons.
Tony Daniels, head of the FBI's Washington field office, identified the wounded agent as John David Kuchta. An agent for three years, Kuchta was hospitalized in stable condition.
Daly, of Falls Church, Va., had worked in the robbery and homicide divisions before he was named to head the joint investigative unit when it was formed in 1992. He had received 27 commendations during his 28-year career. He was married.
Martinez, of Springfield, Va., had been an agent for seven years, assigned to the FBI's Knoxville, Tenn., and later the Washington office. Originally from Pittsburgh, she was married to another FBI agent.
Miller, of Upper Marlboro, Md., had been an agent for eight years, serving in Oklahoma City and in Washington. He was married and the father of two children.
Police share building space with several civilian offices - including the departments of motor vehicles and finance and revenue.
``We will quickly review all of our security procedures and see where we need to make changes,'' Thomas said. ``But because it's a public building ... it's hard to control access.''
Keywords:
FATALITY
by CNB