The security guard at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington who returned fire after a gunman shot a colleague of his last week tells his story to The Associated Press:
After retiring from a 27-year career as a D.C. police officer, Harry Weeks thought working security at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum would provide a quieter way to make a living. A typical day involved greeting visitors and analyzing images of handbags as they passed through a magnetometer.
The new job turned violent, though, when 50-year-old Weeks and another guard were forced to fire last Wednesday at a white supremacist who authorities said shot and killed one of their colleagues.
The memory of that day is still raw, evident in Weeks’ distant eyes and tense body as he described how he’s used time with loved ones, cigarettes and prayer to help him cope.
"It’s not going to be the same anymore," Weeks said during an interview in the family room of his White Plains, Md., home. "You always knew that threat was there, well, I actually lived that threat."
Weeks and the other guard who returned fire, Jason McCuiston, have been instructed by investigators not to discuss specifics of the shooting. Authorities have said the two fired at least eight times as accused gunman James von Brunn walked through the doorway after security guard Stephen T. Johns, 39, was gunned down.
Full story here.
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