@Haleth How would the employees get to work if they did not rate parking permits except public transportation? 23,000 people work there. And it has plenty of security. And only one entrance is accessible from the area with MetroBus/MetroRail. This is also where the tourists go for the guided Pentagon tours.
@davidbetterman sounds like he was an inexperienced, untrained shooter.
I went up to the same security station to ask a question and, without thinking, still had my hand in my pocket holding on to my metro card so I would not lose it. An officer stepped out of the gard enclosure to talk to me with his semi-automatic Glock .40-caliber weapon not pointed at me, but not slung over his shoulder either. His hand was lightly on it. It freaked me out a little but I presented actually no different demeanor than the man who fired on the security officers today or an even worse demeanor—I had my hand in my pocket the whole time..
I learned—this is the same as shouting “Hi, Jack!” to a friend when on or boarding an aioplane. These are tense times.