WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – U.S. Capitol Police said one suspect was killed and an officer injured in a shooting near the U.S. Capitol yesterday in an incident police said was not related to Capitol security.
Police briefly closed a road adjacent to the Senate side of the complex, home to the U.S. Congress, and entrances to the Capitol building were temporarily locked on its North side.
The shooting occurred after a traffic stop, a police spokeswoman said.
Sgt. Kimberly Schneider said Capitol police had initiated a routine traffic stop when “the driver of the car immediately began to flee the officer.” Following a chase, the driver of the car “produced a weapon. … The officer fired. … It’s my understanding the suspect is dead,” Schneider told reporters.
Robert Drumm, visiting Washington from Edmond, Oklahoma said he was walking near the Capitol when he saw police cars engaged in a high speech chase with a white Mercedes.
There was a crash and then “boom, boom, boom, boom. A pause and then a bunch more,” Drumm added, estimating he heard more than a dozen gunshots.
The incident was the second shooting in just over a month near a popular tourist attraction in Washington.
On June 10, an elderly gunman linked to an anti-Jewish website shot and killed a security guard at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, a short distance from the Capitol.
