US Capitol Police, Washington, D.C. police and National Guard troops held a barrier around the entrance to the Capitol where an officer was killed after a car drive into a barrier. Photo by Joshua Skovlund, Coffee Or Die Magazine.
A suspect was in custody and two US Capitol Police officers were taken to the hospital with injuries after a car tried to approach the Capitol complex and was stopped by a barricade. The incident occurred at the entrance on the Capitol’s north side at Constitution Boulevard and Delaware Avenue. Several news outlets reported that shots were fired, but the US Capitol Police did not confirm any gunfire. Other reports said the driver of the blue compact car may have had a knife.
CRITICAL INCIDENT: USCP is responding to the North Barricade vehicle access point along Independence Avenue for reports someone rammed a vehicle into two USCP officers. A suspect is in custody. Both officers are injured. All three have been transported to the hospital. pic.twitter.com/4TXIdulJc6
— U.S. Capitol Police (@CapitolPolice) April 2, 2021
A reporter for Coffee or Die Magazine is on the ground at the Capitol and will update this story as the situation develops.
The nature of the officers’ injuries is unclear.
The incident came just days after security around the Capitol was reduced following an extended period of public closures, in place since the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol by a large mob supporting then President Donald Trump. Police said the car approached the Capitol on Constitution Boulevard, which had been closed since the attacks.
Update: CNN is reporting that officers shot the suspect and the suspect is dead.
Update at 2:47 p.m.: Chief of Capitol Police confirms one officer has died from wounds sustained in today’s attack. The identity has not yet been released.
Update at 3:10 p.m.: At a press conference, acting US Capitol Police Chief Yogananda Pittman provided few details on the attack but confirmed that a police officer had died and a second was transported to a hospital. She said that a male suspect drove a car into a barrier on the Capitol’s north side, then emerged from the car holding a knife. Pittman said the man “lunged” toward officers at the entrance and was shot, with no indication that any “wrestling” or other physical fighting took place between officers and the man.
Pittman said the motive for the attack was unclear but that terrorism did not initially appear to be the goal. Law enforcement generally defines terrorism as acts of violence committed with a goal of impacting political policy. She did not answer questions on the nature of the injuries of either officer.
The incident marks the second line-of-duty death of a Capitol Police officer in 2021. Officer Brian Sicknick was killed as a result of the Jan. 6 riot.
A Coffee or Die Magazine reporter on the ground found Constitution Avenue restricted for two blocks around the Capitol, but the lockdown of the Capitol overall was lifted soon after 3 p.m.
Update at 6:10 p.m.: Officials say the Capitol Police officer killed in the attack was William ‘Billy’ Evans, an 18-year veteran of the force and part of the USCP’s First Responders Unit.
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Matt White is a former senior editor for Coffee or Die Magazine. He was a pararescueman in the Air Force and the Alaska Air National Guard for eight years and has more than a decade of experience in daily and magazine journalism.
