WASHINGTON, D.C. (BNO NEWS) — The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum has confirmed that security officer Stephen Tyrone Johns has died after being shot in the line of duty on Wednesday afternoon.

“Officer Stephen Tyrone Johns died heroically in the line of duty today,” said a statement from the director, chairman and vice chairman of the museum. “There are no words to express our grief and shock over these events,” it added. Johns served on the Museum’s security staff for more than six years.

In honor of Johns, the museum will be closed on Thursday and flags will be flown at half mast in his memory.