‘Act of Terror’: Suspect Flees After Ramming Car Into FBI’s Pittsburgh Office

A suspect is on the run after a car slammed into the gates of the Pittsburgh FBI office early Wednesday morning in what officials described as an “act of terror.” 

The FBI is searching for a man named Donald Henson, who authorities say crashed his vehicle into the main entrance fence at around 2:40 a.m. FBI Pittsburgh Assistant Special Agent in charge Christopher Giordano said that Henson is “dangerous” and has a history of mental health issues. 

“We look at this as an act of terror against the FBI,” Giordano said. “This was a targeted attack on this building. Thankfully no one was hurt.”

Giordano said that Henson exited the car after the collision and draped an American flag over the gates before leaving on foot. He said that officials believed he was a former member of the U.S. military. 

“We don’t have any indication that he is armed. We do believe that there is a mental health problem and a history of mental health issues with the subject so we would consider him dangerous,” he said. “We just have no reason to believe right now, from here, that he had a weapon.” 

Giordano added that Henson had previously made an incoherent complaint to the FBI, which didn’t result in any federal action. 

“In scouring our indexes, we did find that he visited the field office a couple of weeks ago to make a complaint that didn’t make a whole lot of sense,” he said. “We ran down everything that he came down with. It didn’t have a federal nexus. We contacted him to let him know there wasn’t a federal offense that we were able to charge.”

Witnesses said that the man exited the crashed vehicle, shouted, and fled.

“He got out and went around the passenger side and pulled something out of the passenger side. I thought it was a gun but it happened to be a flag and he just set it on that fence and started yelling out some words and just took off,” Nakeisha Brown told a local ABC News affiliate. 

Authorities say anyone who spots Henson should call the FBI or their local police department. The suspect is from Penn Hills, a township located approximately 12 miles from Pittsburgh.