Man Fatally Shoots Self after Driving Vehicle into Capitol Barricade
A man shot and killed himself after crashing a car into a barricade near the U.S. Capitol early Sunday morning.
Just after 4:00 a.m., a man drove his car into the barricade at East Capitol Street and Second Street. After exiting the vehicle, it became “engulfed in flames,” U.S. Capitol Police said.
He then fired several shots indiscriminately into the air along East Capitol Street. Officers heard the gun shots and approached the man, in response to which he fatally shot himself with a weapon. No one else was injured in the incident.
“At this time, it does not appear the man was targeting any Members of Congress, who are on recess, and it does not appear officers fired their weapons,” authorities said. Investigators have not yet identified the man or revealed a motive and are probing the man’s background.
The barricade the man barreled into was up in the raised position, so as to obstruct a vehicle, Lisa Desjardins from PBS NewsHour reported.
DC’s Metropolitan Police Department is handling the death investigation, Capitol Police confirmed. Capitol Police have been on alert for the last few months amid pro-abortion protests threats to Supreme Court justices.
Over a year ago in 2021, another car crashed into a Capitol barricade, killing police officer Billy Evans and wounding another. His tragic death sent Capitol Hill Police Department “reeling,” according to the Capitol Police union.
In August of last year, Capitol police successfully deterred an “active bomb threat,” negotiating with a man who claimed to be in possession of an explosive device by the Capitol Hill complex until he surrendered to law enforcement.
In February, Capitol police reinstalled the barricades they erected in the wake of the January 6 riot in preparation for a trucker convoy that promised to converge on Washington, D.C. in protest of Covid-19 restrictions. Those extra security measures were also set up to prevent disruptions to President Biden’s State of the Union address just days later.
