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WASHINGTON -- An 88-year-old man with ties to white supremacist groups opened fire Wednesday at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, shooting a guard before being shot, according to police. The guard later died at a local hospital.

The man, identified by NBC News as James Wennecker von Brunn, parked his car with a handicapped placard on the street and walked into the museum on the 14th Street side with a long gun and exchanged gunfire with a security guard about 10 minutes before 1 p.m., according to U.S Park Police Sgt. David Schlosser and news reports. Two other security guards then fired upon the gunman, reportedly striking him in the head.

Both witnesses and officials said the shooter just walked in and started firing.

"The guy came in with a shotgun and started shooting at the police officers," one witness said. "He had a Confederate hat on. We thought it was a joke or something."

D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty said the gunman was in critical condition at a local hospital. The security guard, Stephen Tyrone Johns, was transported to a hospital in grave condition and later died. A third person suffered minor injuries, possibly from broken glass, and was treated at the scene, said Allan Etter of D.C. Fire and EMS.

"There are no words to express our grief and shock over today’s events," said Holocaust Museum Director Sara Bloomfield. "It is my sad duty to inform you of the passing of Officer Stephen Tyrone Johns, who died heroically in the line of duty today. He served on the Museum’s security staff for six years. Our thoughts and prayers go out to Officer Johns’s family."

Bloomfield said the museum would be closed Thursday in Johns' honor, and flags would be flown at half mast.

Two police sources told Williams that von Brunn, who has written a book and several Internet polemics detailing his rage against both Judaism and Christianity, has connections with white supremacist organizations and anti-government groups.

Williams reported that the alleged gunman was born in 1920. His last known address was Annapolis, Md. Von Brunn also has a criminal past.

Williams said von Brunn walked into the Federal Reserve in 1981 with a handgun and sawed-off shotgun. He wanted to take Federal Reserve members hostage over a high interest rates. He was captured by a guard on the second floor of the building, 21st and Constitution. He was arrested and convicted and claims on his own Web site that he served time in prison.

The Holocaust Museum normally has a heavy security presence with guards positioned both inside and outside. All visitors are required to pass through metal detectors at the entrance, and bags are screened. It is unknown if the shooting took place before or after the metal detectors, according to Park Police.

One witness said she heard three gunshots inside the museum. She said she heard one shot, then heard a security guard yell, "Run upstairs!" followed by at least two more shots.

The mother of a Massachusetts teenager said students on a school trip to the museum heard several gunshots before they were evacuated from the building. Sandy Perkins said her daughter, Abigail, called her shortly after the shooting. Abigail told her mother that some of her friends were very shaken, but all were otherwise fine.

The teens did not see where the shots were coming from before they were safely evacuated to buses outside the museum.

The museum, located just off the National Mall near the Washington Monument, is a popular tourist attraction. It draws about 1.7 million visitors each year.

Former Senator and Secretary of Defense William Cohen was just inside the door of the Holocaust Museum when the shooting took place, NBC News reported. He was waiting for his wife, Janet Langhart Cohen, who has written and directed a one-act play that was to be performed at the Holocaust Museum Wednesday night. The performance is now being rescheduled for Thursday evening.

Langhart Cohen's play is called "Anne and Emmett;" an imagined conversation between Anne Frank and Emmett Till. It was being performed as part of a commemoration of the 80th anniversary of Anne Frank's birth.

"This is what the play is about," Cohen said. "It's about hate."