Man Fired Shots, Pointed Gun At Himself Outside CIA

MCLEAN, VA — More details on the four-hour standoff outside Central Intelligence Agency headquarters in McLean on Wednesday — including confirmation the suspect fired gunshots at the building — have come from an affidavit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia

A CIA police officer on mobile duty received a radio call around 9:43 a.m. alerting him that a man with a firearm was near the entrance of the George Bush Center for Intelligence installation on Route 123 in Fairfax County.

“I found an individual sitting on a bench next to the CIA Memorial, which is located within the property line of the GBCI installation,” the officer said in the affidavit. “The individual was sitting on the bench and holding a firearm in his hand pointed towards his own head. Officers on the scene commanded the individual to drop his weapon and surrender, but he did not comply.”

Related: Man In Custody After Hours-Long Standoff Outside CIA Gates: Update

Identifying himself as Robert Scofield, the man told the officer he was on probation in Oregon and wasn’t supposed to leave the state, according to the affidavit. The officer was joined by members of the Fairfax County Police Department, who also tried to de-escalate the situation by talking to Scofield.

Later in the day, other officers told the CIA officer that Scofield said he would surrender once he finished smoking his final cigarette. Eventually, he surrendered peacefully, was handcuffed by Fairfax police and eventually taken to jail by other CIA police officers.

Surveillance footage from earlier in the day showed Scofield walking into a crosswalk that runs parallel to Route 123, according to the affidavit.

“While standing in that crosswalk, in the middle of the inbound or outbound lanes of the main entrance to the GBCI, Scofield turned towards the traffic lanes entering the GBCI installation, pointed a handgun into the installation, and fired several rounds from the handgun into the GBCI installation," according to the affidavit.

The video footage next showed Scofield pointing the firearm toward his head as he walked along the sidewalk toward the memorial bench, where he sat down.

Officers recovered the firearm Scofield was carrying, a Springfield 9 mm XD Mod 3 handgun, according to the affidavit.

On Dec. 5, 2023, Scofield, who is a 28-year-old from Lyons, Oregon, was convicted of manufacturing, delivering, or possessing with intent to manufacture or deliver, a controlled substance in Grant County, Washington, the affidavit says. Under Washington state law, that charge is a Class B felony, which carries a potential penalty of up to 10 years in prison.

Scofield was also charged on Jan. 30 in Salem, Oregon, on a felony charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm. The affidavit states that charge remains pending.

For the incident outside CIA headquarters, Scofield faces a federal charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition, which is a level 4 offense, according to court records.