TerrorismShots exchanged near Capitol Hill, suspect – a woman -- hit
Shots were exchanged around 2:15 p.m. this afternoon outside the Hart Senate Building on Capitol Hill between police officers and a lone gunmen. Congressional buildings on both the Senate and the House side were placed under lock-down for about an hour. The lock-down was lifted at 3:00p.m. Police said the fire was exchanged between police officers and a woman in a black car, who had earlier was driving suspiciously near the White House. She sped away from the White House when police approached her, and sped toward Capitol Hill.
Tactical police deploy following D,C, shooter chase // Source: aljazeera.com
Shots were exchanged around 2:15 p.m. this afternoon outside the Hart Senate Building on Capitol Hill between police officers and a lone gunmen. Congressional buildings on both the Senate and the House side were placed under lock-down for about an hour. The lock-down was lifted at 3:00p.m.
Emergency vehicles, sirens blaring, converged on the busy, three-way intersection of Constitution Avenue, 2nd Street, and Maryland Avenue NE.
Officers from the Capitol Police and the Washington, D.C. police were seen running, carrying semi-automatic weapons, toward the intersection.
“It was almost like two very rapid fire bursts, very loud,” Representative Gerry Connolly (D-Virginia) told the Washington Post. Connolly said he was standing on a balcony of the Capitol building with Representative Matt Cartwright (D-Pennsylvania) when they heard two bursts of gunfire. Connolly said it was his impression that the shots had come from the opposite direction, that is, toward the House office buildings to the south.
After the burst of gunfire, Connolly said, “that’s when we saw people fleeing, and we realized this was no fireworks,” Connolly said. “It sounds liked the first volley of a 21 -gun salute.”
Connolly added he could see people fleeing away from the Rayburn building and police officers running toward the building before he was summarily shepherded back into the building.
Connolly says he was told by the sergeant-at-arms that a suspect has been apprehended.
The D.C. fire and emergency medical services department said one person had been transported to a hospital for treatment. The D.C. police said one of its officers was injured in the exchange of fire. The Capitol Police says a few of its officers were injured. It is not known how serious the injuries are.
The Capitol Police, using an alert system, sent an alert message to all Capitol personnel. The message began with an all-caps message:
“SHELTER IN PLACE. Gunshots have been reported on Capitol Hill requiring staff in all Senate Office Buildings to immediately shelter in place. Close, lock and stay away from external doors and windows.”
CNN reports that a woman driving a black sedan stopped around 2:00 p.m. at the corner of Pennsylvania Avenue and 16th Street, right outside the White House. A police officer approached her, and she exchanged angry words with him. She then tried to run him over with her car. She sped away at a high rate of speed, hitting a police car in the process. The police gave chase as she sped toward Capitol hill, ignoring traffic lights and weaving in and out of traffic.
When she approached the intersection of Constitution Avenue, 2nd Street, and Maryland Avenue NE, the police was waiting for her, and an exchange of fire ensued.
The police will only say that she was hit in the exchange, and that a small child who was in the car with her was rescued unharmed.
