Woman killed in Capitol Hill car chase
No indication of terrorism link after White House gate rammed
WASHINGTON — A woman driving a black sedan with a child inside was shot dead by police on Capitol Hill on Thursday after a chase that officials said began when she tried to ram through a gate at the White House.
Police described it as an isolated event and saw no indications of terrorism.
The incident caused chaos as police chased the woman toward Capitol Hill. They locked down the Capitol building for about an hour and both houses of Congress went into recess. Tourists and congressional workers hit the ground or raced for cover amid a hail of police bullets aimed at the fleeing black car.
Rep. Michael McCaul, a Republican who said he was briefed by the Homeland Security Department, said the woman was killed. He said he didn’t believe she was armed as there “was no return fire.”
The Senate’s top security officer, Terrance Gainer, said a child was taken from the car to a hospital, adding he knew of no harm to the youngster, described by a tourist as two to three years old.
Witnesses said they had been at the White House when the woman tried to drive through a barrier on Pennsylvania Avenue.
Jacob Mathews, 26, a tourist from New Zealand, said he saw the woman attempt to drive through a barricade at the White House, striking a guard.
“The barrier fell on top of the guard who fell on the ground,” he said. “He seemed to be OK because he got up. The car then drove off toward the Capitol and some police went after it.”
Uniformed secret service officers chased her, police said later. The woman, believed to be from Connecticut, drove to the front of the Capitol when House lawmakers were debating the three-day-old shutdown of the U.S. government.
At one point, witnesses said, the woman tried to park in front of the Capitol building. Police with guns drawn surrounded her, but she backed out, striking a police car and drove away at high speed. Police opened fire. She rounded a traffic circle, then drove down Maryland Avenue, where she was stopped at a police barricade, shot and killed at about 2:30 p.m.
“Exactly at 2:19 I was standing in the front of the Capitol building and I heard gun shots,” said Ibrahima Bangoura, 44, of Maryland.
“I looked back and I saw a small sedan car driving fast and that car was chased by police, like five police. I heard from seven to eight shots. Pop, pop, pop. And then I heard a boom and that was an accident on Constitution Avenue (where a police car was struck), and after that there was two police who told us to leave.
“People were running away from the gunshot area. I was very scared. I thought somebody was attacking the Capitol.”
Capitol Police Chief Kim Dine said there was no evidence “that this was related to terrorism or was anything other than an isolated incident … with one vehicle involved.
“One of our officers was struck in a scout car,” he said. “He appears to be conscious and breathing.”
Crowds quickly formed around the scene, with many media and tourists taking pictures. Police attempted to push them back and at the same time round up witnesses.
As this reporter spoke to Mathews, a police officer came over and took him away for questioning. They did the same with Bangoura.
The shooting comes two weeks after a mentally disturbed employee terrorized the Navy Yard with a shotgun, leaving 13 people dead including the gunman.