Capitol Hill locked down

An incident where police shot at a vehicle forced the U.S. Capitol to go from shutdown, to lockdown for a couple of hours Thursday afternoon. A lockdown that was lifted once the single suspect, a woman, was declared dead.

There was a car chase, shot on home video, of a small black sedan pursued by police on the circle just below the main U.S. Capitol stairs.

Police say it started at the White House. A female driver ramming her car into a gate, but failing to smash her way in. The vehicle was pursued by the Secret Service. She reportedly headed toward the U.S. Capitol. The vehicle would soon be surrounded by police near the west side of the Capitol. Then the confrontation escalated. Rapidfire gunshots reported by an news truck operator near the scene. Then a car chase, ending with a crash and the reported arrest of the suspect.

The Capitol building itself and the 6 Senate and House office buildings were ordered locked down. Lawmakers and staffers told to shelter in their offices. Tourists ran for cover. Some hunkered down. One was Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio: “We thought we heard shots. Saw a lot of police cars then we heard shots and then the police told us to go back.”

A reportedly injured officer was take to a medivac helicopter, that landed on the west front of the Capitol, and flown away for treatment.

Capitol Police Chief Kim Dine: “We have no information (that) this is related to terrorism, or is anything other than an isolated incident.”

And with the suspect in custody, the alert was lifted and the congressional buildings reopened.