Troubled Cobb County man fatally stabs Pentagon police officer

Known to Cobb Police and Cobb sheriff ‘s office officials as a troubled man, Austin William Lanz took his troubles to the D.C. metro area and left an officer dead in his wake. Lanz, 27, of Acworth, has been confirmed as the Cobb man in Tuesday’s fatal stabbing of a Pentagon officer in Arlington, Virginia. He stabbed Pentagon Force Protection Agency (PFPA) Officer George Gonzalez at a transit center outside the building. The officer died at the scene, according to the FBI.

Officials say Lanz got off a bus at the Pentagon Transit Center in Arlington, Virginia at about 10:40 a.m. on Tuesday and without provocation, “immediately” attacked the Pentagon police officer with a knife, severely wounding him.”

Per an FBI statement on the incident, after wounding Gonzalez, Lanz shot himself with the officer’s weapon. Other Pentagon officers fired at Lanz, who died at the scene. Also injured during the incident was a civilian bystander who was treated and released from the hospital with injuries that were not life-threatening.

Responding to the incident were the FBI Washington Field Office, PFPA, Metro Transit Police, and the Arlington County Police Department. The FBI is investigating the attack. 

According to court records and Cobb Sheriff’s Office records, Lanz faced burglary and criminal trespassing charges in April from various incidents including breaking into a neighbor’s home and leaving “inappropriate photographs and notes” in the mailbox of a different Acworth resident. He was also charged with two counts of aggravated battery on police, a count of making a terrorist threat and a charge for rioting in a penal institution. When Lanz was arrested on the burglary charges, he told officers that police were flying planes over the neighborhood and had been tracking his phone.