The alleged US Holocaust Memorial Museum shooter was convicted of a similar attack on a prominent Washington landmark nearly three decades ago.

Records from District of Columbia Superior Court show James W. von Brunn was convicted of trying to kidnap members of the Federal Reserve in 1981, CNN reported.

His court-appointed lawyer at the time told CNN that von Brunn was sentenced to 11 years in prison and served six. He was 62 at the time and lived in New Hampshire.

In racist writings used at that trial, von Brunn stated, "The United States should belong to white people."

The incident occurred on December 7, 1981, when von Brunn entered the Federal Reserve's Washington headquarters armed with a pistol, a shotgun, a knife, and an imitation bomb.

He claimed to be a photographer wanting to shoot pictures of the boardroom.

Von Brunn told officers he was upset over high interest rates and the state of the economy. The country was in a recession at the time, the first year of Ronald Reagan's presidency.

After a brief trial, von Brunn was convicted on March 3, 1983, of attempted kidnapping while armed, second-degree burglary, assault with a dangerous weapon, carrying a pistol without a license and possession of a banned weapon.

On Wednesday, von Brunn entered the Holocaust Memorial Museum at 12:50 pm with a rifle and immediately shot a museum security guard, said Chief Cathy Lanier of the District of Columbia's Metropolitan Police Department. Two other security guards returned fire, wounding the gunman, she said.

Both the gunman and a security guard were taken to George Washington University Hospital, where the gunman was in "critical" condition, said D.C. Mayor, Adrian Fenty.

The man has been linked to a website that expresses anti-government and anti-Jewish sentiments.

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