# help me remember an incident in DC **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 16, 2010, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-remember-an-incident-in-dc/539678 "2010-05-16T20:42:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2010, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-remember-an-incident-in-dc/539678/1 "2010-05-16T20:42:50Z")
I have a vague memory from the bad old days in DC when a suspect entered into a police station in DC and opened fire on police and FBI agents that were part of a narcotics task force, but I haven’t found anything online. Does anyone have more info on this incident or remember more details that would help me track it down? ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2010, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-remember-an-incident-in-dc/539678/2 "2010-05-17T02:36:51Z")
Give us an approximate year. ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2010, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-remember-an-incident-in-dc/539678/3 "2010-05-17T03:19:09Z")
> [@madmonk28](#): > > I have a vague memory from the bad old days in DC when a suspect entered into a police station in DC and opened fire on police and FBI agents that were part of a narcotics task force, but I haven’t found anything online. Does anyone have more info on this incident or remember more details that would help me track it down? I lived in a DC Suburb (Kings Park, Springfield VA) back in the late 1960’s to 1970 as a young child. I remember one beautiful day (had to spring or fall) when Mom would not let me play outside because there was some sort of National Security Breach. I was born in 1961 and I would guess this happened when in either 1968, 1969, or 1970. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Knig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cdc98d/32.png) [@Typo\_Knig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Knig)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2010, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-remember-an-incident-in-dc/539678/4 "2010-05-17T03:27:55Z")
I think I know the incident you were talking about. The FBI and DCPD had started a “Cold Case” homicide unit. One of the people they called in to interview - not necessarily interrogate - came into the station armed to the teeth, and started shooting people. As I recall at least five officers were killed immediately, and many were wounded. This may have been after Terminator 2 came out, because I remember comparing the incident with the police station shooting in T2. According to IMDB, T2 was released in the summer of 1991, so this would have been after summer of 1991. I can’t find this incident in google. Sadly, too many recent things come up when you search for “dc police station shooting”. ---
**Author:** ![MikeS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MikeS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeS)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2010, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-remember-an-incident-in-dc/539678/5 "2010-05-17T03:33:11Z")
> [@Typo\_Knig](#): > > I think I know the incident you were talking about. The FBI and DCPD had started a “Cold Case” homicide unit. One of the people they called in to interview - not necessarily interrogate - came into the station armed to the teeth, and started shooting people. As I recall at least five officers were killed immediately, and many were wounded. This may have been after Terminator 2 came out, because I remember comparing the incident with the police station shooting in T2. According to IMDB, T2 was released in the summer of 1991, so this would have been after summer of 1991. > > I can’t find this incident in google. Sadly, too many recent things come up when you search for “dc police station shooting”. Add in “cold case” to your search and you find [this story](http://articles.latimes.com/1994-11-23/news/mn-697_1_fbi-agents) from 1994. Is this the incident the OP was asking about? ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Knig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cdc98d/32.png) [@Typo\_Knig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Knig)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2010, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-remember-an-incident-in-dc/539678/6 "2010-05-17T03:34:38Z")
Maybe I meant the police station shooting in T1. The incident was definitely after I moved to DC in late '89 - I remember hearing about it on the local news. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2010, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-remember-an-incident-in-dc/539678/7 "2010-05-17T03:35:42Z")
This case? [http://www.cagv.org/understanding\_firearms.htm](http://www.cagv.org/understanding_firearms.htm) > [@](#): > > On November 21, 1994, Bennie Lee Lawson, who had previously been interviewed by DC Police in relation to a triple homicide, entered Metropolitan Police Headquarters in Washington, DC and asked where the homicide squad was located. By mistake, he ended up in the offices of the cold case squad, a unit comprised of DC Police and FBI agents, which evaluated and reopened unsolved homicide cases. Once inside the office, Lawson produced a fully automatic MAC-11 and opened fire. In the moments that followed, a police officer, Frank Daley, and two FBI agents, Martha Hernandez and Mike Miller, were shot and killed. A third FBI agent was severely wounded by the gunfire, but survived. Lawson eventually took his own life ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2010, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-remember-an-incident-in-dc/539678/8 "2010-05-17T13:01:50Z")
> [@MikeS](#): > > Add in “cold case” to your search and you find [this story](http://articles.latimes.com/1994-11-23/news/mn-697_1_fbi-agents) from 1994. Is this the incident the OP was asking about? This is indeed the the incident, thanks. I thought it was earlier, maybe the 80s, but this is it.