{"id":69728,"date":"2021-08-04T20:31:40","date_gmt":"2021-08-04T20:31:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2021\/08\/04\/man-who-fatally-stabbed-pentagon-officer-had-troubled-past\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T14:03:34","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T14:03:34","slug":"man-who-fatally-stabbed-pentagon-officer-had-troubled-past","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2021\/08\/04\/man-who-fatally-stabbed-pentagon-officer-had-troubled-past\/","title":{"rendered":"Man who fatally stabbed Pentagon officer George Gonzalez had troubled past"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

WASHINGTON (AP) \u2014 As officials seek clues about what prompted a Georgia man to fatally stab a Pentagon police officer<\/a>, details of the suspect\u2019s troubled past emerged Wednesday through interviews and court records.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Austin William Lanz, 27, was arrested last April for a break-in at a neighbor\u2019s home and drew police attention months earlier for an ongoing harassment campaign involving sexually explicit photos and messages, according to interviews and records obtained by The Associated Press.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Investigators have not revealed a motive in the ambush-style killing of Pentagon police<\/a> officer George Gonzalez, 37. But Lanz\u2019s past brushes with the law, and neighbors\u2019 accounts of recent menacing behavior, appear to suggest the violence was more likely the act of a troubled, violence-prone individual than part of a broader conspiracy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI wish there was a better way to address those mental health issues that people have,\u201d said Phillip Brent, who shared a backyard fence with Lanz in Georgia and describes repeated harassment directed at himself and his then-fiancee. \u201cIt feels like it was just a clear failure of our system to help someone out who needed that help.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The FBI on Wednesday said the burst of violence began around 10:40 a.m. Tuesday when Lanz exited a bus at the Pentagon Transit Center and immediately stabbed Gonzalez without provocation. The two struggled and Lanz shot himself with Gonzalez\u2019s weapon. Other \u201cofficers engaged the subject, who ultimately died at the scene,\u201d the FBI said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Police are looking at a scene and items are seen on the ground near a Metrobus outside the Pentagon Metro area, Tuesday, Aug. 3, 2021 at the Pentagon in Washington. A Pentagon police officer died after being stabbed Tuesday during a burst of violence at a transit station outside the building. That’s according to law enforcement officials. The Pentagon officer was stabbed and later died, according to officials who were not authorized to discuss the matter and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity. (AP Photo\/Andrew Harnik)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Gonzalez was a \u201cdie-hard\u201d New York Yankees fan and an Army veteran who served in Iraq and joined the police force in 2018, the Pentagon Force Protection Agency said Wednesday. Lanz died after being shot at the scene, officials said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The attack temporarily placed the U.S. military headquarters on lockdown and rattled the nerves of a region already primed to be on high alert for violence and potential intruders outside federal government buildings, particularly after the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said flags at the Pentagon would be flown at half-staff while the White House saluted Gonzalez as having \u201clost his life protecting those who protect the nation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\t