After ramming the US Capitol barricade, the driver and police officer are killed.
Two people were killed when a car rammed into a barricade outside the US Capitol before lunging at police with a knife, police said.
Police shot and killed the gunman on the scene, and a police officer was later pronounced dead in hospital. Another police officer was injured and taken to the hospital as a result of the attack.
The assault occurred less than three months after the January 6 Capitol insurrection, which took five lives, including one of a police officer.
A tall barbed-wire fence that had been installed across the entire Capitol complex in the wake of the uprising was demolished just two weeks ago, as the threat level appeared to be declining.
Acting Metropolitan Police Chief Robert Contee confirmed that the incident did not appear to be linked to terrorism and that the perpetrator was unknown to police.
The Capitol was placed on lockdown following the incident, but given that Congress is not in session and the attack happened on Good Friday, local time, the building was mostly deserted.
Yogananda Pittman, the Capitol Police’s acting chief, said the assault occurred shortly after 1 p.m. local time (4am AEDT).
Pittman claimed that the perpetrator crashed his blue sedan into a vehicle checkpoint on Constitution Avenue, which runs parallel to the Capitol complex on the north side. The checkpoint is approximately 90 metres from the Senate side of the building’s entrance.
According to her, the attacker then “exited the car with a knife in hand” and lunged at officers.
The officers then opened fire on the suspect, fatally wounding him.
William Evans, an 18-year veteran of the United States Capitol Police, was later named as the officer killed in the attack.
Noah Green, 25, of Indiana, was named as the suspect.
Green claimed on social media in the days leading up to the attack that he had lost his job, endured medical problems, and had been targeted for “mind control.”
He also described himself as a devout follower of Louis Farrakhan, the polarizing leader of the Nation of Islam, a black nationalist religious party, in another Facebook post.
Green often referred to the government as African Americans’ “number one adversary.”
US Vice President Joe Biden expressed his and wife Jill’s “heartbreak” over the attack in a tweet.
“We extend our sincere condolences to Officer Evans’ family and to all who is mourning his death,” Biden said.
“We understand how trying this time has been for the Capitol, for those who work there, and for those who defend it.”
When the attack happened, Biden had just left the White House for Camp David.
Following the incident, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi directed that the Capitol’s flags be flown at half-mast.
A video posted online showed a dark-colored sedan colliding with a vehicle barrier and being examined by a police K9 team.
