Update 3:50 p.m.: It appears that the man who flew his plane into the Austin office building may have intentionally targeted the building because it houses the IRS. A lengthy diatribe against the tax agency was posted on a website registered to Joe Stack, who has been identified as the pilot.
In addition, earlier reports that the CIA also leased space in the facility were incorrect, according to a federal official. The General Services Administration leases more than 44,000 square feet of space in the building for the IRS.
Original post: A small plane crashed into an office building in Austin, Texas, this morning that houses field offices for the FBI and CIA, according to various news reports.
Nearly 200 IRS employees work in the building, which is part of the Echelon office complex, and the building also houses CIA employees, according to local NBC affiliate KXAN. Employees were being accounted for.
Austin newspaper The Statesman quotes IRS agent William Winnie, who said he was in a training session on the third floor of the seven-story building when he saw a light-colored, single engine plane coming at the building. The plane crashed into the lower floors.
It looked like it was coming right in my window. I didn’t lose my footing, but it was enough to knock people who were sitting to the floor.
