Yesterday’s fatal shooting at Washington’s Holocaust Museum left a city stunned. How was it that an 88-year-old man could have so much hatred for Jews, that he would open fire at one of our most solemn national landmarks, with thousands of tourists around?

Police are still trying to piece together what motivated the shooter, James W. von Brunn, of Annapolis, MD, to bring a rifle into the museum in the middle of the day, then open fire on a security guard. Other guards fired back, shooting von Brunn in the face and critically wounding him, as tourists dove for cover. Police raced to the scene, as did SWAT teams and emergency vehicles, and traffic clogged the streets as onlookers gravitated toward the museum. 

"It’s like a scene from a movie," Edward Bhopa, 54, told The Washington Post. His 28-year-old son Andy added: "A horror movie."

What we do know about von Brunn is that he is a World War II veteran who has a long history of anti-Semitism, and he had posted his thoughts on several white supremacist and neo-Nazi websites. He is also the author of Kill the Best Gentiles, a 200-page book denying the Holocaust and praising Adolf Hitler. He is also reportedly a conspiracy theorist who had waged a personal war against the government because his Social Security benefits had been reduced, among other things. His ex-wife told ABC News that "he was eaten alive like a cancer with his hatred of Jews and blacks." She said she and her son "despised" her ex’s beliefs, and she divorced him when she realized the extent of his hatred.

Many groups working to stem discrimination and hatred spoke out against the shooting.

"Brunn’s evil attack, at the very place that was created to remember and teach about evil in the world, is an immediate reminder that words of hate matter, that we can never afford to ignore hate because words of hate can easily become acts of hate, no matter the place, no matter the age of the hatemonger," said Abraham Foxman, national director of the Anti-Defamation League.

The guard who was killed was Stephen T. Johns, a 39-year-old man who had worked at the museum for six years. Flags flew at half staff today and the museum was closed in remembrance of him.

"We’re very devastated by the loss of this wonderful colleague and a very dedicated employee," museum director Sara Bloomfield told MSNBC this morning. She said security is always a paramount concern and security guards are ready for any sort of scenario. The other officers involved in the shooting performed exactly as they were supposed to, she said.

"This incident yesterday really points to the reason this museum exists … hate is a human condition and the important thing to do in the face of hate is not to be indifferent, but to do something."

Conservative talk-show host Glenn Beck is taking some flack today for remarks made on his show saying that "political correctness" led to the shooting, and that "Socialist" policies like the economic bailouts are inciting anger. Beck also wrote on his website that "the pot is boiling and this is a warning to all Americans of things to come."

"It was a white reactionary tour de force — incendiary, stupid and racist," writes history professor Joseph A. Palermo on The Huffington Post. There’s also debate over whether the shooting validates a recent Department of Homeland Security report warning of "right-wing extremists."

Speaking of hatred toward Jews, President Obama’s former controversial pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, blames "them Jews" for keeping the president from giving him a call.

"Them Jews ain’t going to let him talk to me," Wright told The Daily Press in Newport News, VA. "I told my baby daughter that he’ll talk to me in five years when he’s a lame duck, or in eight years when he’s out of office … They will not let him talk to somebody who calls a spade what it is."

Whatever the reason for the shooting and despite the cause, it was a tragic day yesterday not just in Washington — but around the world, in every place where hatred still exists.