A U.S. House of Representatives office building was shut down on October 30, 2003 by Capitol police, who said they received a report that a person with a gun may have breached security. 'We have information that someone with a gun made an unauthorized entrance into the Cannon office building,' U.S. Capitol Police spokeswoman Jessica Gissubel told a local NBC affiliate. The man was possibly carrying a .38 caliber pistol, she said. The Canon House Office Building is seen in this undated file photo. Photo by Reuters
Gun Scare Closes House Office Building
By MARY DALRYMPLE, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON - Two people, one believed to be carrying a gun, breached security in a Capitol Hill office building Thursday, forcing an extraordinary shutdown of the House of Representatives.
"Someone with a gun made an unauthorized entrance into the Cannon Office Building," said Jessica Gissubel, spokeswoman for the U.S. Capitol Police.
Rep. Bob Ney, R-Ohio, chairman of the House Administration Committee, said that at about 1:20 p.m. EST an individual went through the metal detector and put a bag that looked like a bookbag on the conveyor belt at the security checkpoint.
Ney said police saw an object that looked like a revolver in the bag, but before they could stop the suspect grabbed the bag and ran.
They pursued the suspect and lost the person, he said, and the building was evacuated, he said. Entrances to connecting office buildings, the Capitol and the Library of Congress were shut down.
Though the suspect was initially described as male, Rep. John Larson, D-Conn., later said it wasn't clear whether the suspect was a male or a female.
Howard Bauleke, chief of staff to Rep. Dennis Moore, D-Kan. Bauleke said the Capitol police came in and said they were looking for a man carrying a backpack.
Initially, Capitol police advised people to stay in their offices. A few minutes later, the building was evacuated. Staffers and congressmen poured out of the building, and dozens lingered on the building's steps.
Meanwhile, authorities closed roads and a bus stop near the Pentagon Thursday while they investigated a suspicious truck parked nearby, military spokesman said.