Attack on US Capitol leaves suspect and one police officer dead
- Motorist rammed a vehicle into a barricade outside the Capitol, striking two officers
- Suspect then exited and brandished a knife, before being shot by Capitol Police
One Capitol Police officer was killed and another was injured when a vehicle drove into them and a barricade near the US Capitol in Washington, the department’s acting chief said on Friday.
The suspected driver, who exited the vehicle brandishing a knife and lunged at the officers, was also dead after they opened fire, acting Capitol Police chief Yogananda Pittman said.
The Capitol complex was placed on lockdown, though by late afternoon that restriction was lifted; both officers and the suspect were taken to hospital after the attack.
“The suspect did start lunging towards US Capitol Police officers, at which time US Capitol Police officers fired upon the suspect,” Pittman told reporters at a briefing on Friday afternoon.
Pittman said in a statement that Officer William ‘Billy’ Evans, an 18-year veteran of the department, died from “injuries he sustained following an attack at the North Barricade by a lone assailant”.
Later in the afternoon, NBC News reported that multiple senior law enforcement officials briefed on the investigation identified the assailant as Noah Green, 25, from Indiana.
Friday’s attack comes three months after the deadly insurrection attempt at the Capitol on January 6 by supporters of former president Donald Trump.
A Capitol Police officer was beaten to death and four others died during that rampage, after which time the Capitol complex was surrounded by a 12-foot-high fence topped with barbed wire. The fence was taken down last month.
“It has been an extremely difficult and challenging year for us,” Pittman said.
Robert Contee, chief of Washington’s Metropolitan Police Department (MPD), said that law enforcement officers were still working to determine the suspect’s motive.
“We’re in the very early stages of our investigation,” he said.
He added that the suspect, whom he did not identify, did not appear to be previously known to either the US Capitol Police or MPD.
“It does not appear to be terrorism-related, but obviously, we’ll continue to investigate to see if there’s some type of nexus along those lines,” Contee said.
Green had previously described himself on social media as a follower of Louis Farrakhan, the virulently anti-Semitic leader of the US organisation Nation of Islam, according to The New York Times.
The attack occurred around 1pm local time on Friday, when the House of Representatives and the Senate were on recess. However, some lawmakers, staff and members of the media were in the complex at the time.
Soon after the lockdown began, DC National Guard troops assigned to the Capitol were ordered to report to the unit’s armoury if they were not already at the Capitol complex, according to correspondence obtained by POLITICO.
A quick response force – the contingent of National Guard troops deputised in the aftermath of the January 6 attack – was activated shortly before 1.30pm, according to POLITICO.
“We are very thankful for our National Guard partnership. We do have National Guard on the campus,” Pittman said. “But the security posture at this time remains the same.”
A notice sent to lawmakers and staff shortly after 1pm warned them to stay away from “exterior windows and doors” and for those outside, “seek cover”, POLITICO said.
Members of Congress expressed their condolences.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called Evans “a martyr for our democracy”; Chuck Schumer, the Senate Democratic leader, said “we will forever be indebted to Officer Evans” and added that he was praying for the other injured officer and his family.
US President Joe Biden said that he and first lady Jill Biden were “heartbroken” over the attack.
“We know what a difficult time this has been for the Capitol, everyone who works there, and those who protect it,” Biden said.
Capitol police said that the surviving officer hit by the assailant’s car was in stable condition.
Additional reporting by Robert Delaney
