The FBI has charged Yonathan Melaku in last fall’s shootings at the National Museum of the Marine Corps and Pentagon.
The 22-year-old U.S. Marine reservist was arrested Friday at Arlington National Cemetery after police saw him inside the cemetery in during the overnight hours. Investigators feared he was carrying explosive, bomb-making material in a backpack he was carrying.
Inside the bag they found spent 9 millimeter ammunition shells, plastic bags with a powdery substance marked “5lbs” and “AN,” and several written statements referencing Al Queda, according to an affidavit released today by the FBI.
No one was injured Friday, or in the shooting spree last fall that included four military buildings in Northern Virginia.
Melaku is charged with two counts of knowingly using and carrying and discharging a firearm during relation to a crime of violence, according to court documents.
Melaku has been charged in the shootings at the Marine Corps museum and Pentagon because those government buildings sustained more than $1,000 in damage. He has been, however, linked to all of the shootings at military buildings last fall including Coast Guard recruiting center in Woodbridge and a Marine Corps recruiting center in Chantilly.
If convicted, Melaku faces a $1,000 fine and up to 10 years in prison.
The Marine Corps museum was targeted twice during the shooting spree in October. It became the first target on Oct. 17 and again on Oct. 29. Each time, the glass façade of the museum was shot causing more than $83,000 in damage, according to court documents.
