CHAOS AT THE CAPITOL: Officer Killed, Suspect Shot Dead At US Capitol After Vehicle Rammed Into Police (Updated)

1:20 PM ET: One Capitol police officer was killed and another injured today when a vehicle rammed into them near the U.S. Capitol, an attack that once again put the city on edge as threats stemming from the deadly insurrection in January had started to wane.

Acting U.S. Capitol police chief Yogananda Pittman said a man exited the vehicle with a knife and started lunging. She said at least one police officer opened fire, killing the suspect. It was not immediately clear how the officer, identified as William “Billy” Evans, an 18-year veteran, was fatally injured.

Several people familiar with the investigation identified the suspect as Noah Green. One of those people said Green has an address in Virginia.

The suspect was not known to either D.C. or Capitol police, according to authorities. “It does not appear to be terrorism related,” acting D.C. police chief Robert J. Contee III told reporters.

The incident occurred shortly after 1 p.m. on Constitution Avenue, once again drawing hundreds of police officers and plunging the sprawling Capitol complex into lockdown, with people inside buildings told to stay away from exterior windows, and those outside warned to “seek cover.”

Authorities lifted the lockdown about 3:15 p.m., though parts of Constitution Avenue and other streets remained closed. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., ordered flags at the Capitol to be flown at half-staff to honor the officer who was killed.

“I’m heartbroken for the officer killed today defending our Capitol and for his family,” said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. “I’m praying for the officer injured and his family. We’re in their debt.”

The attack comes less than three months after the Jan. 6 insurrection that left five people dead, including Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick. Two police officers who had been at the riot later died by suicide.

It also comes two weeks after officials removed an outer- perimeter fence, opening Independence and Constitution avenues to traffic. An inner-perimeter fence remains around the complex. Once again, Capitol Hill residents who had rejoiced when the outer barrier came down were left with a neighborhood transformed by new blockades and roaming National Guard members.

After the attack, the D.C. National Guard activated its new “immediate response force,” a group of Guard troops who already were on Capitol grounds as part of a 2,300-member deployment for added security. On Friday, two dozen National Guard members formed a line across Independence Avenue, wearing helmets and body armor and carrying plastic shields.

A blue sedan remained at the scene of the deadly incident, with its taillights flashing and trunk open, surrounded by crime scene tape.

At a news conference outside the Capitol, Pittman said the driver of the vehicle entered what is called the North Barricade “and rammed into two officers” before hitting a barrier. He left the vehicle with a knife and lunged at the officers, she said.

Pittman said he did not respond to verbal commands and the officers shot him. Both officers were taken to hospitals, where Evans died. “Please keep the U.S. Capitol Police in your prayers,” Pittman said.

Evans was the sixth member of the Capitol police force to die in the line of duty, according to the department.

Although the Capitol was largely empty because both chambers were on recess, a number of congressional staffers were on or near the campus as the incident unfolded.

One congressional aide, who requested anonymity because he did not have permission to speak publicly, said he was walking to the Longworth House Office Building to get his first shot of the coronavirus vaccine when his phone buzzed. He could hear the sirens.

“If you are outside, seek cover,” the alert warned.

“So I ran to my car,” he said.

It was supposed to be his first time back to his office since the Jan. 6 insurrection.

Ralph Jones, communications director for Rep. Ralph McEachin, D-Va., had also chosen Friday as his first day back in the building since Jan. 6. He came to renew his security badge allowing access to buildings in the complex. Fifteen minutes after he left, as he sat on a Metro train headed home, the urgent warning popped up on his phone too.

He decided he would not be returning to the Capitol until he was mandated to do so.

“I squeaked out just in time and I have no plans to go back any time soon,” he said. “Really there’s nothing stopping me from going except that home still feels much safer to me than being in the Capitol, and it has nothing to do with covid-19.”

UPDATE:

The driver was a Nation of Islam devotee from Indiana, according to reports and his social media. Noah Green, 25, who may have been living in Virginia, described himself as a “Follower of Farrakhan” on his Facebook page, in reference to Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan. Green appeared to have come on hard times from his Facebook page reviewed by The Post before his account was taken down.

“I was on the right track and everything I had planned was coming into existence. It required long hours, lots of studying, and exercise to keep me balanced while experiencing an array of concerning symptoms along the path (I believe to be side effects of drugs I was intaking unknowingly),” he wrote on March 17, signing the message Brother Noah X.

“However, the path has been thwarted, as Allah (God) has chosen me for other things. Throughout life I have set goals, attained them, set higher ones, and then been required to sacrifice those things,” he continued.

His Facebook posts were first reported by MSNBC, which read them on-air.

(c) 2021, The Washington Post · Peter Hermann, Aaron C. Davis, Matt Zapotosky, Michelle Boorstein 

{Matzav.com}