AUGUSTA - A man entered Fort Gordon with a .38-caliber revolver, entered a restroom at Eisenhower Army Medical Center and shot himself in the shoulder less than three months after Sept. 11 heightened security at U.S. military posts. <br>
<br>
The Augusta Chronicle reported that the incident occurred on Dec. 3 but was disclosed five months after the newspaper filed a Freedom of Information request. <br>
<br>
The Chronicle reported that it received an investigative file Tuesday in which the 63-year-old man's name was blacked out. An accompanying letter cited new Department of Defense guidelines as justification. <br>
<br>
The report said the man entered Eisenhower's Orthopedic Clinic at 11:30 a.m. without an appointment, shot himself in the left shoulder and was treated in the Surgical Intensive Care Unit. <br>
<br>
T. Lee Wetherington, chief of the North Augusta, S.C., Department of Public Safety, told the newspaper Tuesday that the man was Carl Pagano, a Vietnam veteran and a retired North Augusta police officer. <br>
<br>
Although Pagano could have been charged with possession of a firearm in a federal facility, he apparently was not arrested. Lt. Col. Gerald Lawson, the post's director of public safety, said there were mitigating circumstances that he could not disclose.
