Shooting suspect was volunteering at LGBT center
By ERIC TUCKER and PETE YOST, Associated Press
Aug 15, 2012 5:05 PM CDT
Washington Police Chief Cathy Lanier meets with reporters near the Family Research Council in Washington, Wednesday, Aug. 15, 2012, after a security guard for the lobbying group was shot in the arm. A police spokeswoman says the shooting happened Wednesday, at the headquarters of the Family Research...   (Associated Press)

A man suspected of shooting and wounding a security guard in the lobby of a Christian lobbying group had been volunteering at a community center for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people.

A law enforcement official has identified the suspect arrested in Wednesday's shooting as Floyd Corkins II of Herndon, Va. Investigators were interviewing his neighbors.

Another official says the shooter made a negative reference about the work of the Family Research Council before opening fire. The officials spoke anonymously because they were not authorized to discuss the ongoing investigation.

David Mariner is executive director of The DC Center for the LGBT Community. He says Corkins had been volunteering at the center for about the past 6 months. Mariner describes Corkins as "kind, gentle and unassuming."

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

A man suspected of shooting and wounding a security guard in the lobby of a Christian lobbying group on Wednesday made a negative reference about the organization's work before opening fire, a law enforcement official said.

Police said the man entered the Family Research Council in Washington around 10:45 a.m. Wednesday, began arguing with a security guard and then shot him in the arm. The suspect was subdued by the security guard and others and taken into custody but had not been charged as of Wednesday evening.

The suspect was in stable condition and also being interviewed.

A law enforcement official identified the suspect as Floyd Corkins II, and authorities were interviewing Corkins's neighbors in Herndon, Va., near Washington. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because the official was not authorized to discuss an ongoing investigation.

The Family Research Council strongly opposes gay marriage and abortion and says it advocates "faith, family and freedom in public policy and public opinion."

Corkins made some sort of negative comment about the organization before the shooting, but the reference was not specific, said another law enforcement official who also spoke on anonymity because of the ongoing investigation.

Though authorities did not publicly reveal a motive, advocacy groups across the ideological spectrum condemned the violence, with some casting it as a hate crime.

"Today's attack is the clearest sign we've seen that labeling pro-marriage groups as `hateful' must end," Brian Brown, the president of the National Organization for Marriage, said in a statement.

The Family Research Council's president, Tony Perkins, said the organization's primary concern was with the wounded security guard, who an organization spokesman identified as Leo Johnson.

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney said in a statement that he was appalled by the shooting. "There is no place for such violence in our society," he said. "My prayers go out to the wounded security guard and his family, as well as all the people at the Family Research Council whose sense of security has been shattered by today's horrific events."

The headquarters of the FRC is in the city's bustling Chinatown neighborhood, near the Verizon Center, the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery and several museums, restaurants and shops.

Amy Biondi and her husband Steve were visiting Washington from Long Island with their daughter and a friend and tried to ask officers for help with a parking meter when they were told there was a situation they had to deal with. The door to the FRC was opened, and an officer repeatedly shouted, "Put the gun down, put the gun down."

"Next thing you know there are police officers swarming the area," said Biondi, 45, a massage therapist from St. James, N.Y.

The family didn't get a close look, but they said the man officers were talking to seemed to comply with the orders immediately.

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Associated Press writers Ben Nuckols in Washington and Matthew Barakat in Herndon, Va., contributed to this report.

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