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.