Webb aide arrested with loaded gun

WASHINGTON (Map, News) - U.S. Capitol Police said they arrested a senior aide to Sen. Jim Webb on Monday morning after he tried to carry a loaded pistol into a Senate office building.

Police stopped Phillip Thompson from entering the Russell Senate Office Building shortly before 11 a.m. Monday when the X-ray machine revealed that he possessed a loaded pistol with two additional fully loaded magazines, according to a statement the Capitol Police released Monday.

Thompson did not have a license to carry a pistol in D.C., and the firearm and ammunition were unregistered, police said.

Webb spokeswoman Jessica Smith said the office still is gathering details.

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"To our knowledge, this incident was an oversight by the senator's aide," Smith said. "Phillip Thompson is a former Marine, a long-term friend and trusted employee."

Thompson is a former military reporter and has been with Webb since his successful campaign in Virginia to unseat incumbent George Allen last fall.

He was charged with carrying a pistol without a license and for possessing an unregistered firearm and unregistered ammunition. He will appear in court today, according to police.

A police source, who spoke to The Examiner on condition of anonymity, said the bag containing the gun that Thompson carried belonged to Webb.

Staff writer Bill Myers contributed to this report.

churt@dcexaminer.com

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