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Prosecutors prepare case in White House shooting

Robert W. Pickett

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Authorities Friday were preparing to file charges against the alleged gunman who fired shots outside the White House.

Prosecutors were continuing to build a case against Robert Pickett, 47, the Indiana tax accountant who they say brandished and fired a handgun south of the White House grounds Wednesday. Pickett was shot in the right knee by a Secret Service officer after a tense 10-minute midday standoff.

ALSO Text of Pickett letter     VIDEO CNN's Art Harris talks to neighbors of the White House shooting suspect Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media) Eyewitnesses describe what they saw and heard near the White House Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media) Eyewitnesses discuss hearing gunshot noises and watching the suspect being apprehended Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media) Watch slow-motion video of law enforcement officials surrounding the suspect Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media)

AUDIO Steve Yurks, a friend of the suspect, comments on the motive behind Pickett's alleged actions AIFF or WAV sound Martin Malley talks to CNN about what he witnessed Tuesday outside the White House AIFF or WAV sound

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Police sources said they view Wednesday's incident as an attempted suicide by Pickett, either by shooting himself or by forcing officers to open fire, a practice sometimes called "suicide by cop." Pickett wrote a suicide letter to the Internal Revenue Service last week, and authorities said another letter, found in his car near a metro stop in suburban Virginia, could be construed as a suicide note.

A Justice Department official in the U.S. attorney's office said prosecutors may decide to press federal and local charges, and both could be filed and prosecuted in federal court.

Sources said prosecutors could file a felony charge, possibly assault on a federal officer, against Pickett in federal court. One official said the lesser felony charge of illegal possession of a handgun also is under consideration.

A charge of assaulting a federal officer with a deadly weapon carries a penalty of up to 10 years in prison. Assaulting a federal agent without a weapon can carry a sentence of one to three years. The illegal possession charge, a violation of a District of Columbia statute, carries a maximum sentence of five years behind bars.

Authorities recovered a .38-caliber handgun near the scene of the standoff. No one else was injured in the incident and President Bush, who was inside the White House, was never in danger.

Pickett, who has a history of mental illness, was listed in good condition at George Washington University Hospital, recovering from surgery to repair his knee.

In his letter to the IRS, published Thursday in an Ohio newspaper, Pickett detailed what he called his futile efforts to expose a corrupt agency. He blamed the government for aggravating his self-described mental illness by rejecting his allegations.

The repeated rebukes, Pickett wrote, caused "me great mental anguish over the years," and led to two suicide attempts and several hospitalizations.

The letter tells how Pickett -- described as an intelligent, kind but troubled man by neighbors and associates in Evansville, Indiana -- grew increasingly frustrated after a federal court in Cincinnati in January ruled against his IRS lawsuit and asked for more evidence.

"I have been a victim of a corrupt government," Pickett wrote. "You are guilty of murder."

Copies of the letter, dated February 2, were sent to Bush, the U.S. attorney general, the Cincinnati Enquirer and the Evansville Courier and Press. The Enquirer published the letter in full Thursday.

"My death is on your hands," Pickett wrote to IRS Commissioner Charles Rossotti.

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