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Washington on lockdown after shooting incident

A Secret Service agent patrols the North Lawn of the White House after reports of shooting on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on Monday, March 28, 2016. (Olivier Douliery/Abaca Press/TNS)

Written by Kelsey Dickerson, Staff Writer

The Capitol was on lockdown for nearly an hour Monday following what the DC Police Department dubbed an “isolated incident” via Twitter.

According to CNN, the lockdown was the result of a Tennessee man, Larry Russell Dawson, pulling out a gun at the Capitol Visitors’ Center. The suspect was caught by metal detectors upon entering the center and proceeded to produce a weapon before a Capitol police officer shot him.

Following the attack, the Associated Press reported police and emergency vehicles swarmed the area and cordoned off the streets while visitors were turned away.

Only one bystander, identified as a 45-35 year old woman, sustained minor injuries from flying shrapnel and was transported to the hospital.

Capitol Police Chief Mathew Verderosa confirmed that the act was isolated, saying “We (the Capitol Police Dept.) believe this is an act of a single person who has frequented the Capitol grounds before, and there is no reason to believe this is anything more than a criminal act.”

CNN reports that Dawson was arrested before in October of 2015 for assaulting a police officer after an outburst in the House of Representatives where court documents say he “loudly stated to Congress he was a ‘prophet of God.’”

The 66-year-old was taken to surgery at a hospital following Monday’s shooting and will be tried in D.C. Superior Court following his release. A Capitol Police press release said Dawson was in “stable but critical condition” and is charged with assault with a deadly weapon and assault on a police officer while armed, both are criminal offenses in D.C.

Normal operations resumed Tuesday at the Visitor Center, where the shooting took place.

 

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