Washington — A person driving a automotive struck a barrier close to the U.S. Capitol early Sunday morning and opened fireplace earlier than fatally taking pictures himself, police mentioned.
The person crashed into the barrier on the east aspect of the Capitol simply after 4 a.m. Sunday morning, and his automotive went up in flames as he was getting out, U.S. Capitol Police mentioned in a statement. The person fired a number of photographs into the air and turned the gun on himself as officers responded. Nobody else was damage.
“Right now, it doesn’t seem the person was focusing on any Members of Congress, who’re on recess, and it doesn’t seem officers fired their weapons,” Capitol Police mentioned. The assertion didn’t identify the person, however famous that “investigators are wanting into the person’s background.”
Safety at and across the Capitol has been heightened within the yr and a half because the Jan. 6, 2021, assault. Capitol Police erected tall fences and boundaries across the complicated that stood for weeks within the aftermath.
There have been different safety incidents close to the complicated since Jan. 6, as nicely. In April 2021, a person rammed his car into officers standing close to a safety barricade, killing one and injuring one other. The person, 25-year-old Noah Inexperienced, was shot and killed by police.
In October 2021, a person named Dale Paul Melvin was arrested after parking his car exterior the Supreme Court docket throughout the road from the Capitol and refusing to go away. Melvin returned in February 2022 however left with out being arrested.
Nicole Sganga and Jake Rosen contributed reporting.
