By MARY DALRYMPLE
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) -- A person armed with a gun ran past a security checkpoint in a Capitol Hill office building, police said, triggering a lockdown and forcing the House to cease floor business.
"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.
Not saying this is the case but it would be a classic diversion.
Stay vigilant.
*** CLASSIC ***
Some of those security people are so overweight, they would be sucking air after 50 feet.