Lockdown on Capitol Hill as gunman blasts police officer
THE United States Capitol was on lockdown last night after a visitor opened fire, wounding a police officer.
Staff in the underground visitors’ centre were ordered to shelter shortly before 3pm local time, just hours after the government building held a drill to prepare for a potential shooting scenario.
One officer was taken to hospital with gunshot wounds that were not lifethreatening. The suspect was arrested within minutes of the first shot being fired, the Associated Press reported.
There was confusion as the shooting came shortly after the scheduled emergency drill, which staff had been told about via email in the morning.
One visitor to the Washington DC building, Cathryn Leff from California, described crowds ‘screaming and running’ after gunshots sounded as she was walking through security.
Witness Jill Epstein said: ‘As we were literally going through the metal detectors, people started screaming, “Get out! Get out!” We didn’t know which way to run. ‘We were crouching against the wall outside the visitors’ centre. Police appeared out of everywhere and they were screaming, “Run for it! Run for it! Run up that ramp!”’
The suspect was widely identified as Larry Dawson f rom Tennessee, a supporter of Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump. According to CNN, he tried to walk through the visitors’ centre’s metal detectors when the bleepers went off.
Dawson was previously arrested at the Capitol last October, charged with unlawful conduct and assault on an officer after he interrupted a House session shouting: ‘I am a prophet of God’.
The US Congress is on recess, with representatives back in their home districts. As the drama unfolded, President Obama and his wife Michelle were greeting families at a White House Easter party nearby attended by 35,000 guests including singer Beyonce and her rapper husband Jay Z.