WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – An elderly gunman linked to  an anti-Jewish website killed a security guard at the U.S.  Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington yesterday and was  wounded when guards returned fire, officials said.

The guard, Stephen Tyrone Jones, died at a local hospital  after being shot with a rifle, officials said. The museum said  it would be closed today in his honour.

“There are no words to express our grief and shock over  these events,” the museum said in a statement.

The gunman was in critical condition after the incident,  authorities said.

A federal law enforcement official said investigators had  identified James W. von Brunn, 88, as the potential suspect and  linked him to a website that expresses anti-government and  anti-Jewish sentiments.

U.S. President Barack Obama said he was “shocked and  saddened” by the shooting.

“This outrageous act reminds us that we must remain  vigilant against anti-Semitism and prejudice in all its forms,”  Obama said, adding that his thoughts and prayers were with the  family of the “courageous security guard who stood watch at  this place of solemn remembrance.”