A senior defense official told CNN that the officer, George Gonzalez, was stabbed by the attacker and that other officers reacted quickly and shot the suspect.
The FBI Washington field office confirmed Lanz as a suspect on Twitter on Wednesday, saying he died of suicide using the service weapon of the Pentagon Force Protection Agency officer he fatally wounded.
According to the FBI’s tweet, Lanz “got off a bus at the Pentagon Transit Center” and attacked Gonzalez “immediately, without provocation” with a knife.
The FBI went on to tweet that there was “a fight in which the officer fatally wounded officer Gonzalez and then shot himself with the officer’s service weapon. Other PFPA officers investigated the issue who ultimately died on the scene. ”
Lanz joined the U.S. Marine Corps briefly in 2012, but never received the title of Marine, according to Major Jim Stenger, Marine Corps spokesman.
“Our condolences go out to the family of the officer who was killed,” Stenger said in a statement to CNN. “We can confirm that Austin W. Lanz joined the Marine Corps on October 9, 2012, but was administratively separated on November 2, 2012 and never earned the title of Marine.”
Stenger referred all questions related to the investigation into the August 3 attack to the Washington Field Office Public Affairs of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Cobb County Magsitrate Court records indicate that Lanz was obstructing law enforcement on the 24th.
Lanz was released on May 12 on a $ 30,000 bond and had to undergo a mental health and substance abuse assessment within 30 days. The terms of his bail also required him to register for treatment within 15 days of the recommendation.
He was also required not to own any firearms.
Lanz had not yet been charged on the charges as the case had been transferred to the Cobb County Superior Court. The court records indicate that two charges – prison riot and terrorist threats – were dismissed because “there is no probable cause”.
This story has been updated with additional reports.
CNN’s Barbara Starr and Jamie Crawford contributed to this report.
