Washington, Aug 14 (AFP\/APP):A man died early Sunday near the US Capitol building after driving his car into a barricade and firing shots into the air before turning his gun on himself, police said.<\/p>\n
A statement from the US Capitol Police (USCP) did not identify the man or speculate on a motive.<\/p>\n
The incident occurred amid heightened tensions and violence-filled chatter on social media following the FBI’s surprise seizure of several boxes of classified government documents from former president Donald Trump’s Florida resort estate.<\/p>\n
The Supreme Court, still behind security fencing after its bitterly divisive June ruling on abortion, is also nearby on Capitol Hill.<\/p>\n
The police statement said the man drove his car into a vehicle barricade at East Capitol Street and Second Street shortly after 4:00 am (0800 GMT).<\/p>\n
“While the man was getting out of the car, it became engulfed in flames,” USCP said.<\/p>\n
“The man then fired several shots into the air.”<\/p>\n
When officers responded to the sound of gunfire and approached the man, “he shot himself,” police said.<\/p>\n
No one else was hurt.
\nThe Congress is currently in recess, and police said “it does not appear the man was targeting any members of Congress.”<\/p>\n
The DC Metropolitan Police Department is leading an investigation into the man and his background.<\/p>\n
US Capitol Police Chief Thomas Manger said authorities were waiting to notify the man’s next of kin.<\/p>\n
“We do know that the subject has a criminal history over the past 10 years or so,” Manger said, according to Politico, “but nothing that at this point would link him to anything here at the Capitol.”<\/p>\n
USCP officer Billy Evans was killed in April 2021 after a man rammed a car into a barricade outside the Capitol and then brandished a knife, prompting officers to shoot him.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Washington, Aug 14 (AFP\/APP):A man died early Sunday near the US Capitol building after driving his car into a barricade and firing shots into the air before turning his gun on himself, police said. A statement from the US Capitol Police (USCP) did not identify […]<\/p>\n
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