One Capitol Police officer was killed and another severely injured by a car that rammed through a barricade protecting the US Capitol building on April 2. The driver was shot and killed after he ran towards officers wielding a knife.
The attack occurred at 1 a.m. at a police checkpoint on Constitution Avenue, 100 yards away from the senate and staff entrance to the Capitol. A press conference was taking place as the incident happened and the Capitol was put on lockdown, which has since been lifted. National guard, Capitol Police, and Park Police flooded the scene and set up a perimeter in case of another attack.
The man who turned his blue sedan into a weapon is Noah Green, a 25 year old from Indiana currently living in Virginia. According to Wolf Blitzer of CNN, Green was delusional and claimed to be targeted by the government. Green posted on social media he recently left his job due to “afflictions” and his “enlightenment” from the Nation of Islam’s leader, Louis Farrakhan.
Officer William “Billy” Evans, an 18-year veteran of the force, was pronounced dead three hours after the incident took place. The other officer’s identity has not been revealed.
Acting Capitol Police Chief Yogananda Pittman said, “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.”
Evans is the fourth police officer in Washington D.C. to die since the Capitol was stormed on Jan. 6 this year. Brian D. Sicknick collapsed inside the Capitol Police station hours after being pepper sprayed and beaten while defending the Capitol. Two other officers, Jeffrey Smith and Howard Leibengood, committed suicide days later.
National guard members have been posted at the Capitol since the riot and barricades have just begun to be taken down around the building after being up for three months. This incident will surely keep the Capitol on edge.
LMA Journal 