The U.S. Capitol building has been taken off lockdown after a “isolated incident” involving a car chase and gunfire outside the building Thursday.
Capitol police say it began this afternoon when a woman driving a black sedan allegedly tried to pass through a barricade in front of the White House.
A chase then ensued towards the Capitol where officers again tried to stop the vehicle.
At one point, authorities say, she drove into a police cruiser before continuing to lead them on a multi-agency pursuit around the Capitol.
She was eventually apprehended.
Her condition was not immediately known.
There were also reports that a child may have been inside the woman’s car.
It’s not clear how many shots were fired or by whom, but officials say they were not aimed at the Capitol.
The police officer whose vehicle was struck by the suspect was hospitalized with non life threatening injuries.
Meanwhile, as events were unfolding, public address systems inside the building instructed all workers to “remain sheltered.”
The incident comes as the government shutdown enters it’s third day with no immediate end in sight.
Earlier in the day, President Barack Obama called for an up or down vote in congress on a funding bill already passed by the Senate that would open the government again.
He says the GOP needs to stop focusing on healthcare, and recognize that a government shutdown could soon lead to an economic shutdown.
“You do not get to demand some ransom in exchange for keeping the government running. You don’t get to demand ransom in exchange for keeping the economy running. You don’t get to demand ransom for doing your most basic job,” Obama said.
Meetings between the president and congressional leaders at the White House yesterday seemed to make no progress towards resolution, with House Speaker John Boehner saying all Republican proposals have been rejected.
“I would hope that the president and my Democrat colleagues in the Senate would listen to the American people and sit down and have a serious discussion about resolving these differences,” Boehner said.
The shutdown has forced close to 800,000 federal employees off the job without pay.
Without a budget raising the debt ceiling, the United States will enter default on October 17.
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via Great Local News: New York http://newyork.greatlocalnews.info
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