A gunman upset over losing his Social Security benefits case, opened fire in the lobby of a federal building in downtown Las Vegas on Monday, killing a court officer and wounding a deputy U.S. marshal before he was shot to death.
Two officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, because they were not authorized to discuss the case, identified the shooter as Johnny Lee Wicks to the Associated Press.
While an investigation is under way, the officials say the early evidence points to the man's anger over his benefits as motive for the shooting.
Court records shoe Wicks sued the Social security Administration in 2008, but the case was thrown out and formally closed in September 2009.
Dave Oney, spokesman for the U.S. Marshals Service, told Fox News that the deputy marshal and a court security officer were shot at approximately 8 a.m. in the lobby of the Lloyd D. George Federal Courthouse.
The 48-year-old deputy marshal was hospitalized; the 65-year-old security officer died.
FBI Special Agent Joseph Dickey said the gunman died across the street shortly after the shootout. The man's identity and motive were not immediately known.
A passerby who was reporting for jury duty caught dramatic cell phone footage of the shooting, which revealed that more than 40 shots were fired.
Click here to see the video
SLIDESHOW: Deadly courthouse shooting
"We don't believe it's terrorist-related at all," FBI Special Agent Joe Dickey said during a press conference Monday. "It looks like a lone criminal act."
Dickey said the shooter wore black pants, a black shirt and a black jacket. He said the man walked into the building with a shotgun under his jacket and opened fire.
The building was evacuated, police and news helicopters circled overhead, and Las Vegas police cordoned off the area for several blocks. A 16-story state and local courthouse two blocks away was locked down as a precaution.
After police arrived, paramedics wheeled at least two people down a ramp to ambulances.
Witnesses said a man wearing combat boots and fatigues was found dead in the bushes near the courthouse, Fox5Vegas.com reported.
Dickey called the building evacuation "standard procedure" in such an incident, adding it was "for the safety of everybody in the place."
Las Vegas police spokeswoman Barbara Morgan said the shooter had been shot in the head.
"It looks like he went in there and just started unloading," Morgan said.
The Lloyd D. George U.S. Courthouse and Federal Building is named for a longtime senior federal judge who still hears cases. It has federal courts and offices for federal officials including U.S. Sens. Harry Reid and John Ensign. Neither was in the building at the time, authorities said.
Irwin said she saw shotgun casings on the floor of the federal building lobby.
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Originally Posted by snafu
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