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Charges filed in White House shooting

Robert W. Pickett

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The U.S. Attorney's office Friday filed federal charges against the alleged gunman who fired shots outside the White House, charging him with assaulting a federal officer with a deadly weapon.

The charge carries a maximum of 10 years in prison.

Pickett, 47, is the Indiana tax accountant who fired shots south of the White House grounds Wednesday. After a 10-minute midday standoff with police, he was shot in the knee and taken to George Washington University Hospital, where he is recovering in good condition.

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

RESOURCES Location of White House shooting     DOCUMENT Complaint filed against Robert Pickett regarding the shooting (FindLaw) Documents in PFD format require Adobe Acrobat Reader for viewing     LEGAL RESOURCES Latest Legal News Law Library FindLaw Consumer Center Select a topic Bankruptcy Discrimination Divorce Estate Planning Landlord-Tenant Personal Injury Taxes

In the criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Washington, U.S. Park Police officer Timothy Moser says Pickett brandished a loaded .38 caliber revolver and fired it twice during the standoff. A Secret Service officer shot Pickett in the right knee after hearing his gun click, Moser says.

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.

Law enforcement sources told CNN a will was found on a kitchen table at Pickett's Evansville, Indiana home and on his office desk. That evidence, the sources said, is lending more and more credence to the "suicide by cop" theory.

Prosecutors were still considering local charges in addition to the federal charges filed Friday. Both could be filed and prosecuted in federal court.

The 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.

A source said prosecutors could file a lesser felony charge of illegal possession of a handgun against Pickett in federal court. It is illegal in the District of Columbia to carry a weapon without a license, and the charge, a violation of District of Columbia statutes, carries a maximum of five years behind bars.

No one else was injured in the incident and President Bush, who was inside the White House, was never in danger.

Pickett has a history of mental illness. 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, and blamed the government for aggravating his 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 -- 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.

Accused gunman "had emotional problems," friend says
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Past incidents at the White House
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