Shocking news came from the U.S Capitol on Friday where a police officer reportedly passed away when a man crashed into a street barrier with his car. At least one officer opened fire at the suspect after he seemed to ignore the warnings.
According to the Capitol Police Chief, Yogananda Pitman, the suspect came out of the car and instantly pounced at the police officers with a knife in hand before being shot by the officers. Multiple news sources confirmed the identity of the suspect as a 25-year-old man Noah Green from Indiana.
The attack resulted in a complete lockdown of the Capitol complex as there was no session of House, Senate, or Congress going on at the time of the incident that came almost 3 months after the storming of the U.S Capitol by the violent group of Former President Donald Trump supporters.
A witness confirmed the time of the incident to be around 1:00 p.m ET, Friday. A threat-alert message was sent to the whole Capitol staff warning them of an outside “security threat” at all blocks of the Capitol and told them to stay inside or take shelter.
William Evans, the officer who succumbed to his injuries, had been securing the boundaries of Capitol as a part of USCP for the past 18 years. He was very “well regarded” by the police and staff. His death has left everyone grieving as they lost an honest and hard-working public worker.
Some suspicious activity and a recent change in shared content were recorded on the suspect’s now-removed Facebook account. He was also a supporter of a radical group Nation of Islam that professedly advocates for the rights of black people but in fact, encourages the pro-right and discriminatory ideology.
wake of the events, President Joe Biden commended for the flags to be flown at half-staff as an expression of grief on the death of the police officer.
The U.S Capitol was overflowing with security personnel after the incident and a helicopter was seen landing on the site which, a staff member said, had never been seen before. Although the lockdown was lifted about two hours after being imposed, the security measures seemed to keep increasing.
Security needs to be intensified following the multiple attacks on one of the most sacred places in the U.S. It was yet another day where we saw the United States crumbling into grief and sorrow by an extremist individual breaking the laws and attempting to damage the sanctity of the place where the laws are made.