A shooting at the U.S. Capitol has ended with a number of injuries and a female suspect being shot and killed by police.
The incident unfolded Thursday afternoon, with a car chase ending near the Capitol building. Then, while the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate were in session, gunshots were heard outside the building.
A government official has confirmed that a female suspect was killed at the scene.
Sources say the car tried to ram a security barrier at 15th and Pennsylvania Avenue, which is near the White House. Police then chased the vehicle for a little more than a mile to 2nd Street and Constitution Avenue.
Unconfirmed reports say a child may have been inside the car.
“I was just eating a hot dog over here and I heard about four or five gunshots, and then a swarm of police cars came in wailing their sirens,” said Whit Dabney, a 13-year-old visiting from Louisville, Kentucky.
A policeman was injured in a car crash during the chase and was taken to a hospital in Medevac helicopter. The officer’s condition was not given.
Shortly after the incident began a lockdown order was issued for the Capitol, but it was called off just before 3 pm.
The incident comes as lawmakers from both parties are trying to break an impasse that has shut down the federal government.
#BREAKING : Source says female suspect reported dead on scene at U.S. Capitol.
— ABC News (@ABC) October 3, 2013
The Capitol shooting comes just three weeks after another incident of mass violence in Washington, D.C. A former serviceman named Aaron Alexis opened fire at the U.S. Navy yard that sits just 1.5 miles from the Capitol, killing 12 people.