The video shows the driver of the crashed car emerging with a knife in his hand and starting to run for the pair of police, Capitol Police Chief Acting Officer Yogananda Pittman told reporters on Friday. Authorities shot the suspect, who died in a hospital.
“I just ask the public to continue to keep the US Capitol Police and their families in their prayers,” said Pittman. “This has been an extremely difficult time for the United States Capitol Police after the events of January 6 and now the events that have occurred here today.”
The police identified the dead officer as William “Billy” Evans, an 18-year-old veteran who was a member of the department’s first aid unit.
Two officers told the Associated Press that investigators initially believed the suspect stabbed one of the officers, but it was not immediately clear whether the knife actually made contact, in part because the vehicle hit the officers with such force. Officials were not allowed to publicly discuss the investigation and spoke on condition of anonymity.
Authorities said there was no continuing threat, although the Capitol was put on blockade for a time as a precaution. There was also no apparent immediate connection between Friday’s accident and the January 6 riot.
Law enforcement officers identified the suspect as 25-year-old Noah Green. The investigators were combing his history and examining whether he had any mental health history while trying to discern a reason. They were also working to obtain warrants to access their accounts online.
Pittman said the suspect did not appear to be on police radar. But the attack underscored that the building and campus – and the police officers charged with protecting them – remain potential targets of violence.
Green described himself as a follower of the Nation of Islam and its founder, Louis Farrakhan, and talked about going through a difficult time when he leaned on his faith, according to recent messages posted online that have since been taken down. The messages were captured by the SITE group, which tracks the online activity.
“To be honest, the past few years have been difficult, and the past few months have been more difficult,” he wrote. “I was tested on some of the biggest and most unimaginable tests of my life. I am currently unemployed after I quit my job, partly due to afflictions, but ultimately, in search of a spiritual journey.”
President Joe Biden said in a statement that he and his wife were heartbroken to hear of the attack and expressed condolences to the Evans family. He ordered the White House flags to be reduced to half the staff.
The accident and the shooting took place at a security checkpoint near the Capitol, normally used by senators and officials during the week, although most were outside the building in the current recess. The attack occurred about 100 yards (91 meters) from the building’s entrance on the Senate side of the Capitol. A witness, Rev. Patrick Mahoney, said he was finishing a Good Friday service nearby when he heard three shots.
The Washington region remains on the edge almost three months after a mob of rebels loyal to former President Donald Trump invaded the Capitol while Congress was voting to certify Biden’s presidential victory.
Five people died in the January 6 riot, including Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick, who was among a numerically disadvantaged force trying to repel intruders trying to overthrow the election. The authorities installed a high perimeter fence around the Capitol and for months restricted traffic along the roads closest to the building, but they began to withdraw some of the emergency measures. The fences that prevented vehicle traffic near this area have recently been removed.
Evans was the seventh member of the Capitol Police to die in the line of duty in the department’s history, according to the Official Down Memorial Page, which tracks police deaths. In addition, two policemen, one from the Capitol Police and the other from the Washington Metropolitan Police Department, died of suicide after the January 6 attack.
Nearly 140 Capitol police officers were injured in the attack, including officers without helmets who suffered head injuries and one with broken ribs, according to the officers’ union. It took hours for the National Guard to arrive, a delay that took months of accusations among that day’s top decision makers.
Capitol Police and National Guard troops were summoned shortly after to protect the Capitol during Biden’s inauguration and faced another potential threat in early March, linked to conspiracy theories falsely claiming that Trump would retake the presidency.
“Today, once again, these heroes have risked their lives to protect our Capitol and our country, with the same extraordinary selflessness and spirit of service seen on January 6,” Mayor Nancy Pelosi said in a statement. “On behalf of the entire House, we are deeply grateful.”
The United States Capitol complex was put on lockdown for a time after Friday’s shooting, and officials were told they could not enter or leave the buildings. The video showed Guard troops mobilizing near the accident area.
The video posted online showed a dark-colored sedan colliding with a vehicle barrier and a K-9 police dog inspecting the vehicle. Police and paramedics can be seen looking after at least one unidentified individual.
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The merchant reported from Houston. Associated Press news researchers Randy Herschaft and Rhonda Shafner in New York, and Associated Press writers Eric Tucker, Mary Clare Jalonick, Lisa Mascaro, Mark Sherman and Lolita C. Baldor contributed to this report.
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