IE 11 is not supported. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser.

Marine reservist in custody after Pentagon scare

An Ethiopian-born man carrying a backpack containing what authorities said were suspicious items was detained Friday near the Pentagon.
Image: Law enforcement work near the Pentagon after a suspicious vehicle forced multiple road closures
Law enforcement vehicles gather near the Pentagon after a man was arrested nearby.Alex Brandon / AP
/ Source: NBC News and news services

An Ethiopian-born man carrying a backpack containing what authorities said were suspicious items was detained Friday near the Pentagon.

The man was discovered inside Arlington National Cemetery after 1 a.m., several hours after the cemetery had closed, and was taken into custody after being uncooperative, authorities said. He was not immediately charged with a crime. Authorities believe he acted alone and no one else was with him.

The man was identified as a 22-year-old a naturalized U.S. citizen originally from Ethiopia, according to a law enforcement official who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

The U.S. Marine Corps said the man joined the Marine Corps Reserve on Sept. 4, 2007, and is currently a lance corporal and motor vehicle operator.

A U.S. military official told NBC News that the man went to boot camp several years ago, but wasn't able to pass his fitness or combat readiness tests. He has not been deployed overseas and was denied promotion, the official said.

When he was taken into custody, the man had an unknown quantity of what may have been ammonium nitrate in a bag, according to another law enforcement official speaking on the condition of anonymity. Ammonium nitrate is a chemical compound that is widely used in fertilizers and can be used in explosives with the correct concentration.

Nothing else was found on the man that could have triggered any sort of explosion, and tests were being done to determine the substance and the exact concentration, the official said.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity.

Investigators and bomb-sniffing dogs were sifting through his family's home in Fairfax County, Virginia, and agents in white protective suits removed evidence from the property.

Nothing found inside car
Officers searched the man's nearby car, a red 2011 Nissan that was parked in the bushes near a parking lot at the Pentagon, the headquarters of the Department of Defense, but found nothing suspicious inside, said Brenda Heck, special agent in charge of the counterterrorism unit of the FBI's Washington field office.

She would not disclose the materials inside the backpack, but said it contained no explosives and the materials in it were "inert."

The man was arrested last month in Leesburg, Va., on grand larceny charges, accused of damaging a series of cars and stealing items. His attorney in that case did not immediately return a call seeking comment Friday.

His Reserve unit was never informed about his larceny arrest, the military official told NBC.

The investigation snarled rush hour traffic Friday as police closed off roads around the Pentagon.

In another incident earlier this week, a motorist found with a gun and what appeared to be a suspicious package near the Pentagon was taken into custody.