UPDATED: Capitol Police Officer Killed, Another Injured and Suspect Dies

UPDATED: Capitol Police Officer Killed, Another Injured and Suspect Dies

A Capitol Police officer has been killed and a second officer was injured after being rammed by a vehicle at the U.S. Capitol on Friday. The suspect was shot and killed.

“The suspect exited the vehicle with a knife in hand” and “lunged” at the officers, said the chief of the Capitol Police, Yogananda D. Pittman.

The New York Times reports, "At least one of the officers was medevacked to a hospital, according to one of the officials, and a National Guard quick-response team and the local police were on hand at the already heavily fortified complex. The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a rapidly unfolding security incident."

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It is the most serious security threat at the Capitol complex since the deadly Jan. 6 attack that injured dozens and killed five people.

Around 2:30 p.m., the Capitol Police said that the threat to the building had “been neutralized” and that people could move freely throughout the building, but that no entry or exit was permitted.

The attack was on the Constitution Avenue side of the Capitol.

 

Officer Identified

Capitol Police identified the officer who was killed as Officer William ‘Billy’ Evans. Pittman released the following statement:

“It is with profound sadness that I share the news of the passing of Officer William ‘Billy’ Evans this afternoon from injuries he sustained following an attack at the North Barricade by a lone assailant. Officer Evans had been a member of the United States Capitol Police for 18 years.  

He began his USCP service on March 7, 2003, and was a member of the Capitol Division’s First Responder’s Unit. Please keep Officer Evans and his family in your thoughts and prayers.” 

 

Suspect

"Investigators said they did not know a motive, but did not believe it was 'terrorism related,' Robert J. Contee, the acting chief of the Washington Metropolitan Police Department, told reporters. Congress was not in session on Friday, as lawmakers were scattered around the country for the holiday weekend," according to the New York Times.

The man who made the attack is identified as Noah Green and he was 25-years-old.

"Chief Contee said that it appeared the driver had not been previously known to his agency or to the Capitol Police. On the driver’s Facebook page, which has since been taken down, Mr. Green described himself as a supporter of the Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan and said he had been struggling through the last few months of the pandemic. He said he had recently left his job and been “faced with fear, hunger, loss of wealth and diminution of fruit,” reports New York Times.

Updated Saturday 6:09 AM