Updated 23 minutes ago
Washongton-The U.S. Capitol Building was temporarily on lockdown after a man killed himself outside Saturday afternoon, NBC News reported.
A senior federal
official said the man killed himself with a single shot, and that he did
not have any identification. Police are now looking for the suspect’s
car.
The incident took
place in a public area around1 p.m. The man, who is not being
identified, had a backpack and a roller case with him, which bomb
technicians handled as suspicious packages, U.S. Capitol Police Chief
Kim Dine said at a press conference.
Dine added that
at this time, there seems to be no connection to terrorism. The man did
not have any
other weapons with him aside from a gun but did have a sign
with him about "social justice," according to the police chief. At this
time, the exact language of that sign is unclear.
Police instructed staffers to shelter in place as a precautionary
measure, though the shooter had been "neutralized." The lockdown was
lifted just before 4 p.m., but the West Terrace area remains closed
until further notice, according to Capitol Police.
A witness at the scene, Ramesh Nandi,
said he and his wife were sitting on the steps of the Capitol, facing
the Washington Monument when he saw a young man walk up.
"He took out a
placard that said something like, 'Why don't you tax the 1/4?' or
something like that. " Nandi said. " I was trying to read the placard."
Other witnesses
said the sign said something about taxing the 1 percent, a possible
reference to the Occupy Wall Street movement's "We are the 99%" slogan
used during protests about the distribution of income and wealth.
Nandi said he heard a pop and saw the back of the man's head starting to get red.
"I grabbed my wife and said, 'Run! Run!' I thought it was a sniper, because I didn't see a gun in his hand."
Nandi and his wife hid behind a wall. He said the man did not speak before the incident.
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