Itongdol.- A shooting in the official visitor\’s center of the US Capitol injured one police officer and forced law enforcement to lock down Capitol Hill and the White House on Monday.
As of this writing, Capitol police were not able to determine the motive of the shooter, who was swiftly caught. The police officer\’s injury was not serious, according to the Capitol\’s sergeant at arms.
According to CNN, one male suspect was shot and taken into custody and a female civilian was injured by shrapnel.
A US Capitol Police officer, who asked not to be identified, said that the suspected shooter was being transported to hospital. The officer did not identify or describe the suspect and he added that there were no additional suspects.
Congress is in recess, with few lawmakers in Washington but the shooting happened just a few hours after a drill for an active shooter took place at the Capitol, creating further confusion.
The Secret Service temporarily cleared tourists from an area surrounding the White House after the incident, but activities quickly went back to normal.
The White House\’s daily briefing with reporters was under way as both structures were locked down, and as employees and visitors were instructed to shelter in place.
The shooting reflects on the difficulty of securing soft targets from violent attacks, criminal or terrorist-related. As occurred before security screening at Brussels airport last week, the perpetrator was able to carry weapons into the entry hall of the building.
Local police in Washington later said the shooting appeared to be an isolated incident, and no further threat was posed to the public. The incident occurred a day after the Easter holiday weekend saw flocks of visitors in the US capital.