This story is breaking and will be updated:
WASHINGTON – Police said one officer was killed and another remains hospitalized after one man crashed into a car in a security fence near the construction of the U. S. Capitol on Friday.
“It is with depth that I share the news of the death of Officer William ‘Billy’ Evans this afternoon as a result of injuries sustained as a result of an attack on the North Barricade through a lone assailant,” said U. S. Capitol police chief Yogananda Pittman. said in a statement.
Evans, an 18-year-old USCP veteran who served in the Capitol Division’s First Aid Unit, pittman said. “Please stay in your mind and in your prayers to Officer Evans and his circle of relatives,” he added.
The officer’s loss is a blow to the USCP, which lost Officer Brian Sicknick when a crowd of supporters of former President Donald Trump broke into the Capitol on January 6 and two officials committed suicide after the attack.
Pittman said at a news convention that at 1:02 pm EDT, a driving force rammed two USCP officials near the Capitol with his vehicle, then continued to hit the barrier on Constitution Avenue. knife and “began to rush aggressively towards U. S. Capitol Police officers,” ignoring verbal orders, he said. The officers then shot the suspect, who then died in a hospital.
Statement on the Loss of UsCP colleague William “Billy” Evans: https://t. co/JMAEbTcbAp pic. twitter. com/DPvkAv5ptO
The suspect known as Indiana’s 25-year-old Noah Green said a police officer reported the investigation. The official, who is not legal to comment publicly, said the suspect also gave the impression of having ties to Virginia.
DC Metropolitan Police Chief Robert J. Contee III stated that there appears to be a permanent risk similar to the incident and that “this appears to be similar to terrorism. “
Contee said the police were investigating Green’s motive, who claimed that Green was not known to eer the D. C. police or the USCP and that in the past it was not considered a risk to lawmakers.
The closed front that Green has hit is one of many that supply the U. S. Capitol and is mainly used through senators and staff.
The D. C. Metropolitan Police Department reported receiving a 911 call at 1:05 p. m. about a “possible shooting” near the Capitol.
After the incident, the Capitol was blocked. A USCP email sent to Capitol Hill staff at 1:20 p. m. EDT said: “The risk to external security in all buildings on the U. S. Capitol campus. But it’s not the first time Go on. ” The email told other people outside to “take shelter” and SMS alerts asked inmates to stay away from the windows.
The lock was raised around 3 p. m.
“The USCP has clarified the incident of external security risk located in all buildings on the U. S. Capitol campus. But the spaces around the crime scene will remain limited and Americans will follow the instructions of the police,” an email sent to Capitol Hill staff said.
Jake Sherman, a Capitol Hill reporter for Punchbowl News, shared images of a helicopter landing in the east of the Capitol building in reaction to the incident.
???????? A helicopter just landed on the east front of the Capitol. I’ve never noticed it before, nunca. Pic. twitter. com/LxV0mywRSe
Access to the Capitol has been heavily guarded since January 6 that left five other people dead, adding Sicknick. Friday’s incident gave the impression that it had no connection to the January 6 attack.
Two layers of two-and-a-half-metre fences, topped with barbed wire, one surrounding the Capitol and surrounding the entire campus and federal building blocks, as well as the Supreme Court and the Library of Congress, were lined up.
The outer fence was dismantled late last month, allowing pedestrians and cars closer access to the Capitol, adding the domain where the incident occurred.
The incident occurred while the congressional chambers were out of office and top lawmakers were back in their home districts.
Senator Tim Scott, SAR. C. , who in South Carolina, however, part of his staff at his workplace on Capitol Hill said he was “grateful” that the incident would not escalate.
“Just 10 days ago, we were the fences that created the border around the Capitol,” he told Fox News on Friday. “I’m sure there will be a new verbal exchange about what it will be like in the future. “
President Joe Biden said he “regrets” being informed of Evans’ attack and death, and ordered the White House flags to be lowered to separate staff “while we mourn the loss of some other Capitol police officer. “
Biden landed at Camp David, Maryland’s presidential shelter, in Marine One some time before the attack and claimed he was receiving ongoing data from his Homeland Security adviser and that they would be further updated as the investigation progressed.
“We make our sincere condolences to Officer Evans’ circle of relatives and to all who mourn his loss,” Biden said in a statement. “We know how complicated this has been for the Capitol, everyone who paints there and the ones who are. “
The president went on to “express the nation’s gratitude to the Capitol Police, the National Guard Immediate Response Force, and others who temporarily responded to this attack. “
A number of Congressional leaders paid tribute to the Capitol Police after the incident.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi spokeswoman Drew Hammill said Pelosi ordered the Capitol flags to be partly resisted in honor of the deceased officer. “The flag reduction procedure would possibly take longer than before due to the capitol’s existing blocking prestige,” Hammill. Tweeted.
President Pelosi ordered the flags of the US Capitol to be a U. S. Capitol. But it’s not the first time They will be partly re-enacted by the death of a police officer from the U. S. Capitol. But it’s not the first time That he was on duty today.
Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer said he “sorry for the officer killed today to protect our Capitol and his family. I pray for the wounded officer and his family. “
“We’re indebted, ” said Schumer in a tweet. ” We thank the Capitol Police, the National Guard and the lifeguards for everything they do to the Capitol and those inside. “
“Once again, the brave officials of the U. S. Capitol Police have been able to do so. But it’s not the first time They were violently attacked while doing their job,” said Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell, Republican for Ky. “I regret that Officer William F. Evans has died in the line of duty to protect The Capitol His call will go down in history for his selfless sacrifice.
“The Senate prays fiercely for the wounded official moment and for Officer Evan’s circle of family and friends. “
“Praying for law enforcement lifeguards related to the Capitol Hill incident,” tweeted Senator Charles Grassley, Republican for Iowa.
Pray for the police officers of the U. S. Capitol who were attacked on Capitol Hill, we are told what happened I thank all the USPP and lifeguards who are on the scene.
Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester, Democrat of Del. , told USA TODAY that she was in the state of her home but that she was “deeply saddened by the news of the death of one of the Capitol police officers. “
Rep. Tim Ryan, a Democrat for Ohio, told reporters: “The Capitol police force, members of Congress, staff, especially in recent weeks and months, have a circle of family members. today in paintings to protect the Capitol. “
Representative Ro Khanna, a Democrat for California, who at the Capitol on Friday said the incident is a reminder that construction and what it represents remains a target.
“It seemed that even though everything was returning to what the Capitol deserves to be, a position where everyone can just make a stop,” Khanna told MSNBC. “But, you know, this incident, I think, shows that there is risk and security, and security will have to come first, not only for members of Congress, but also for all the other people who paint here and the other people who scale here. “
Khanna said Friday’s attack is disconcerting given what happened on January 6.
“What’s happening in our country, where we have other people coming in, looking to use violence, knives, and weapons at the center of American democracy, a monument to American democracy,” he said. “I mean, it’s (why) our country was founded, to prevent them from violence, to say that we are disputed through debate and reasoned dialogue, and in reality everything is wrong. “
Contribution: Jeanine Santucci, David Jackson and Joey Garrison