A 29-year-old Delaware man died in what is believed to be a suicide after he crashed his car into a barricade outside the US Capitol and fired shots into the air, police said.
As the man was getting out of the crashed car, it was engulfed in flames just after 4 a.m. (0800 GMT) at East Capitol Street and Second Street, US Capitol Police said.
Police said the man was identified as Richard A. York III of Delaware.
“It is unclear at this time why he decided to go to the Capitol complex,” Capitol Police said in a statement.
Police previously said that “it does not appear that the man was targeting members of Congress who are on recess, and it does not appear that officers fired their weapons.”
The man then fired several shots into the air along East Capitol Street, police said. When police responded and approached, the man shot himself, police said. No one else was hurt.
The death is being investigated by the Washington Metropolitan Police Department, which did not immediately release his identity or details of a motive.
There are security barricades around the security checkpoints of the Capitol complex, which are closely guarded.
In April 2021, 25-year-old motorist Noah Green drove his car into the US Capitol Police and brandished a knife, killing one officer and injuring another, and forced the Capitol complex into lockdown. Greene was shot and killed by the police.
