-- Arlington, Va. -- A blue car charged up Constitution Avenue. It turned into the last gate before the plaza that surrounds the Senate side of the Capitol Hill complex. It crashed into a special, heavy-duty, moveable vehicle barrier. Two U.S. Capitol Police officers were knocked over. The suspect exited the car and ran towards another officer, brandishing a large knife. He was shot and later confirmed dead. Tragically, one of the U.S. Capitol Police officers also lost his life.
It was a shocking Good Friday in a sunny but chilly US capital city. It could have been a lot worse, reporters and anchors noted repeatedly in their live reports, but few were actually working on Capitol Hill. Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minnesota) noted that the death toll could have been far worse if the assailant had an AR-15, a semi-automatic rifle similar to ones used in mass shootings in Georgia and Colorado in March.
