Washington DC car chase: suspect shot dead after Capitol Hill lockdown Subscribe to the The Guardian: http://bitly.com/UvkFpD A woman with a young child in her car attempted to breach a White House checkpoint on Thursday, prompting a high-speed chase through the security-heavy streets of Washington that ended near the US Capitol when police shot her dead. Government buildings on Capitol Hill were placed on lockdown and members of Congress sheltered in their offices as the incident unfolded. Capitol police said the woman was chased between the two centres of government, striking a police vehicle shortly before she was stopped. Officers shot the woman dead. The one-year-old child was unhurt. Less than three weeks after a fatal shooting at the nearby navy yard left 12 dead, the incident put security forces on full alert and led to the temporary suspension of business in the House of Representatives, where lawmakers were debating the government shutdown. The incident began at about 2.10pm ET when the woman attempted to get past an outer security checkpoint at the White House. She was challenged by secret service officers, and a police chase ensued. At one point, police cars surrounded the vehicle, but the woman reversed into one of them and drove off again. The chase eventually ended 1.7 miles from the White House, the US Capitol, where the woman was shot. Witnesses reported hearing several "loud bangs" outside the Capitol complex. Video later emerged of a black sedan being chased at speed around the heavily-guarded roads close to the US Senate buildings. "We heard three, four, five pops," said Senator Bob Casey, a Democrat who was walking from the Capitol to an office building across the street. Police ordered Casey and nearby tourists to crouch behind a car for protection, then hustled everyone into the Capitol, according to the Associated Press. "There were multiple shots fired and the air was filled with gunpowder," said Berin Szoka, whose office at a technology thinktank overlooks the shooting scene. Cathy Lanier, chief of the Metropolitan police department in Washington, said the incident was not an accident and that the suspect attempted to breach two security barriers. "This was a lengthy pursuit," Lanier said. Capitol police chief Kim Dine said the two scenes were quickly secured after a short security lockdown meant hundreds of government staff were told to "shelter in place". He told reporters on Capitol Hill: "We have no information that this was related to terrorism or is anything other than an isolated incident." He confirmed that a Capitol police officer was hurt. The injured officer was evacuated by a helicopter which landed on the lawn in front of Congress. The officer was not seriously injured.

• published: 04 Oct 2013
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