One Officer Dead at U.S. Capitol After Vehicle Attack

“It is with a very very heavy heart that I announce one of our officers has succumbed to his injuries.”

Acting chief of the United States Capitol Police, Yogananda Pittman, said at a press briefing.

U.S. Capitol Police shot and killed a man who rammed a car into a security checkpoint outside the Capitol building on Friday, injuring one officer and killing another, acting Chief Yogananda Pittman said.

The unidentified man stepped out of the vehicle armed with a knife and was shot by police, a Capitol official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. The suspect died shortly after, Pittman said.

The two officers were hospitalized and Pittman said “it is with very heavy heart one of the officers has succumbed to his injuries.”

At this time it does not appear to be an ongoing threat,” said Robert Contee, chief of Washington metro police. “It does not appear to be terrorism-related.” He said the investigation is continuing.

Video footage from the scene showed that the car had been driving fast enough for the airbag to deploy when it hit the security barricade.

The authorities said in a statement that the incident occurred at a “vehicle access point” on the Senate side of the Capitol along Constitution Avenue in Washington D.C.

“A suspect is in custody. Both officers are injured. All three have been transported to the hospital,” the police said in a tweet.

The Capitol was on security lockdown, with no one allowed to enter or exit buildings, but they are allowed to move within the campus of buildings.

The Capitol has been under heavy security since the Jan. 6 attack on the building by supporters of former President Donald Trump while Congress was voting to certify the 2020 election in Joe Biden’s favor. Some perimeter fencing has since been removed, but not all of it.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell tweeted that he was “praying for the United States Capitol Police officers” and “grateful” to first responders on the scene.

[sppsports]

Before politics is brought into this, let me just say RIP to the officer who lost their one and only life today.

[SycamoreCanyon]

Now they have a good excuse to turn the Capitol into a militarized fortress

[STONE]

We must do something about this car violence. We must ban cars right.

[Chewee]

Right before the national guard was about to leave too. Having the capitol surrounded by troops isn't a good image for the US.

[defund-the-media]

We should call for stricter knife and car laws now

[mochapella]

Rest in Peace! Condolences to family, loved ones, friends and community! Peace, Peace, Peace!

[jamesdean]

We must ban all vehicles immediately Alcohol too since they cost 100 times more deaths than guns

[dnproductions]

Now imagine how peaceful we would be if false information wasn’t spreading around so much

[v.a.]

Prayers to the police officer and his/her family/friends.

[INoticed_XIV]

We need an assault car ban and high capacity gas tanks

[conuregirl]

Please address the need for mental healthcare in America! Please address the educational system in this country! We are sorely lacking on both counts! Condolences to the family of the officer. Things have to change here!

[crazytrain]

Better watch our for them pesky assault cars. Maybe we should ban those too...

[djy]

That is but pertaining to the career politicians inside the capitol. Your atrocities against the American people have reached a boiling YOU ARE NOT SAFE

[zero_stars]

We need vehicle reform in this country. Vehicles kill too many people on a day to day basis.
Background checks for everyone buying a vehicle must immediately be put in place.

[crispinjulius]

If they just would have rushed him with social workers, crisis counselors and “Get Well!” cards once he lunged out of his car, this all could have been avoided. Group hug!

this makes me so are we going to dress the mental health of AMERICANS....or are we just going to keep dealing with this BS forever?

[eliwrzm]

I did a double take when I saw this title. .. *Again?!?!* That family of officers have been through so much already, I hope their grieving & mourning for their peers _murders_ ended with this last officer. God Bless them, I pray for comfort & peace for the loved ones.

[brandonr.]

All these fools in the comments saying pray to families were same ones saying defund da police over the summer smh

[docchocobo]

My heart goes with the officer who lost his life. To the attacker, "Oh Bullwinkle, that trick never works!"

I wonder if we should bring back mental asylums for our craziest members of society. There seem to be a lot of them crawling out of the woodwork these days.

[margaretjaeger]

They’ve been making ready for this since January. They must have had advance notice of dangerous activity being planned on them. Wonder who will get the blame for this awful incident..??