Woman in Capitol chase suffered from delusions
Miriam Carey, 34, thought Obamawas talking to her and also had postpartum depression, according to reports.
stamford, conn. » The Connecticut woman who was shot to death outside the U.S. Capitol after trying to ram her car through a White House barrier had been under the delusion the president was communicating with her, a federal lawenforcement official said Friday.
Miriam Carey’s killing at the hands of police Thursday was Washington’s second major spasm of deadly violence involving an apparently unstable person in 2½ weeks.
Interviews with some of thosewho knew the 34-year-old woman suggested she was coming apart well before she loaded her 1year-old daughter into the car for the drive to Washington. Carey had suffered a head injury in a fall and had been fired as a dental hygienist, according to her former employer. Carey’s mother said Carey had been suffering from postpartum depression.
The federal lawenforcement official, who had been briefed about the investigation but was not authorized to discuss it publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity, said inves- tigators were interviewing Carey’s family about her mental state and examining writings found in her Stamford condominium.
“We are seeing serious degradation in her mental health, certainly within the last 10 months, since December, ups and downs,” the official said. “Our working theory is her mental healthwas a significant driver in her unexpected presence in D.C. yesterday.”
Carey thought President Barack Obama was communicating to her, the official said. “Those communications were, of course, in her head,” the official said, adding that concerns about her mental health were reported in the last year to Stamford police.
Stamford PoliceChief Jonathan Fontneau said his officers had gone to Carey’s home in the past, though not in response to any crime. He gave no details.
After ramming the barricades at the WhiteHouse, the apparently unarmed Carey led police on a chase down Constitution Avenue to the Capitol, where she was shot in a harrowing chain of events that led to a brief lockdown of Congress. Carey’s daughter escaped serious injury and was taken into protective custody.
Carey’s mother, Idella Carey, told ABC that her daughter suffered from postpartum depression after giving birth in August 2012.
“She was depressed. She was hospitalized,” said Idella Carey.
Experts say symptoms of postpartum depression include lack of interest in the baby; mood swings between sadness and irritability; scary thoughts of something bad happening to the baby; and, in severe cases, suicidal thoughts— but not delusions.