US Capitol lockdown ends after man shoots himself dead

WASHINGTON – A precautionary lockdown of the US Capitol was lifted after about two hours yesterday (April 11) following a suicide by a man carrying a protest sign.

The man died after shooting himself on the west front of the Capitol building just after 1 pm, Capitol Police spokeswoman Kimberly Schneider said. No one else was hurt.

“Confirmed: Self-inflicted gunshot by neutralised subject,” Ms Schneider said in a statement.

Capitol Police Chief Kim Dine said the man had a backpack and a rolling suitcase, triggering an hours-long lockdown, and a sign that said something about “social justice”.

“There are no indications at this point of terrorism,” a US official told NBC News.

Mr Robert Bishop of Annapolis, Maryland said he was biking near the steps of the Capitol when the suicide happened.

Mr Bishop didn’t witness the suicide but said there were about 60 people in the area, and that some of them did, including a girl and her mother who immediately began crying afterward.

Mr Bishop said another witness told him and a police officer that the man who killed himself held up a protest sign about taxation just before pulling the trigger.

No one was allowed to leave or enter the Capitol or the visitors’ centre during the lockdown on a busy day for tourists, and some streets around the area were closed.

After being allowed to leave the Capitol, Mr Bishop said he saw authorities taking clothes out of the suitcase the man had.

During the lockdown, about a dozen police cars, black SUVs and an ambulance congregated at the bottom of the west steps of the Capitol, which overlooks the bustling National Mall.

Police appeared to take measurements as bomb squad members searched the area. Nearer the mall, visitors gathered around trying to figure out what was going on.

The lockdown came during Washington’s annual Cherry Blossom Festival, which attracts thousands of tourists during Washington’s busy season. The lockdown blocked traffic but did not appear to disrupt visitors.

Parents with children milled around the Capitol grounds, and the atmosphere was calm, a Reuters witness said.

Congress has been on spring recess for two weeks and lawmakers are set to return to work tomorrow.

The shooting is the latest in a string of security incidents at high-profile buildings in the nation’s capitol.

In 2013, police shot and killed a woman after she rammed security barricades with her car near the White House before racing toward the Capitol. Also in 2013, a government contractor opened fire at the Washington Navy Yard, killing 12 people.

More recently, a man pleaded guilty to charges of running into the White House in September armed with a knife before being tackled, a security breach that helped lead to a shake-up in the US Secret Service. AP, REUTERS