A Virginia man pleads guilty to shooting at several military-related buildings in 2010. NBC's Pete Williams has the video Yonathon Melaku created one of the nights he was out shooting.
By Pete Williams, NBC News chief justice correspondent
The man who shot at the Pentagon in late 2010 and other military related targets in the Washington, D.C. area pleaded guilty Thursday in federal court in Virginia.
After the plea was entered, prosecutors released a video he made, which shows him in his car, firing shots from a handgun.
Yonathan Melaku, 23, admitted he committed five separate shootings in October and November 2010 -- twice at the National Museum of the Marine Corps, and once each at the Pentagon and at Coast Guard and Marine Corps recruiting offices in Virginia.?He fired the shots late at night or early in the morning, using a 9 mm handgun.?No one was hurt, but the government says that repairs will cost over $100,000.
On the tape, which Melaku made during the night he shot at the Marine Corps museum for the second time, he can be heard saying: "That's a military building, and that's the building I'm going to be targeting. ... Last time I hit them, they turned off the lights for, like, four or five days."
He can be seen waving his gun at the camera. At another point in the tape, he begins firing.?The shots can be heard and the muzzle flash from the gun seen.
Melaku also records himself wearing a mask and then later removes the mask, showing his face.
He was arrested last June near Arlington National Cemetery at 1:30 am.?A search of his home turned up what investigators said were potential components of a homemade bomb.
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