Gun Scare Closes House Office Building

[Seraphim]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=512&e=4&u=/ap/20031030/ap_on_go_co/congress_intruder


By MARY DALRYMPLE, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON - 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 (news - web sites) 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 (news - web sites) Thursday while they investigated a suspicious truck parked nearby, military spokesman said.

[NcDeuce]

I hope the intruder is found...and if he really has a gun...shot.

[Seoulstriker]

I hope the intruder is found...and if he really has a gun...shot.

hopefully he is just hiding somewhere in the building at this time. you would think security would be better at the Capitol. :|

[hood]

Damn hippies.

[NcDeuce]

Hooah

[Seoulstriker]

Hooah

hooah?

[Argyll]

I hope the intruder is found...and if he really has a gun...shot.

Instead of shooting him ,perhaps it would be better asking him how he managed to get past security ,with a gun.........way to go! :bash:

Shoot the Security detail for allowing this to happen more like!!

[hood]

Particularly after this happened before within the last few years, although I forget which building that was. Why isn't there a giant piano that gets dropped on trespassers if they aren't buzzed through by the security guards?

[Seraphim]

And the award for idiot of the year goes to...

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=512&e=1&u=/ap/20031030/ap_on_go_co/congress_intruder


By MARY DALRYMPLE, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON - The House of Representatives was ordered shut down Thursday following reports of a security breach at a congressional office building nearby, but police swiftly determined that a Halloween costume and plastic revolver were to blame.


Capitol police also said they had apprehended a suspect, according to an aide who said he heard the information via a pager system operated by security officials.


Start to finish, the incident lasted two hours or less — but it instantly triggered a massive response in an age of terrorism.


U.S. Capitol Police Chief Terence Gainer told reporters the incident resulted from "two staff members bringing in Halloween costumes....I don't think they had any ill intent," he said.


He said the staff aides stopped to chat with security personnel after placing a bag on a security station X-ray belt at the entrance to the Cannon House Office Building, then went into their building. Moments later, security officials noticed the image of a gun, and triggered an alarm.


Gainer said the two staff aides are "very sorry this all happened," and the security personnel had performed "well within standards."


Gainer was still fielding questions from reporters when the bells rang in the House side of the Capitol, indicating that lawmakers were being called back into session.


The preceding two hours were anything but routine, though, as the perceived security breach triggered an immediate massive response.


Police invaded the office building, mounting a room-by-room search for the suspect or suspects in the case.


Two or three officers were quickly stationed at the underground entrances to the Capitol from each of several House office building. Outdoors, security barriers were raised to prevent vehicles from approaching buildings in the Capitol complex. Police in SWAT gear also materialized.


The incident triggered memories of a far more lethal incident on July 24, 1998, when a man with a history of mental illness rushed into the Capitol and killed two security guards. The accused shooter, Russell E. Weston Jr., is awaiting trial.


In the chaotic moments after Thursday's incident, the congressman who chairs the committee overseeing House administration procedures told reporters that the image seen by security personnel "could be a toy gun."


"But it could be real," said Rep. Bob Ney, R-Ohio.


Not long after a review of security videotapes, a police spokeswoman, Jessica Gissubel, told reporters, "We do now believe it is a revolver."


Then, another twist.


One lawmaker, whom Gainer did not name, had contacted Capitol police to report that his aides were the two people authorities were looking for. Security personnel raced to the office and learend abouit the costume and toy gun.


"I don't think anybody was trying to trick anybody,. I think it was just an unusual set of Halloween circumstances that unfolded on us," he said.





The names of the two staff aides were not disclosed.

Rep. Philip Crane, R-Ill., chairing a commitee meeting at the time the incident occurred, interrupted the hearing to announce that the alert had been lifted.

"It was a Halloween prank. A very stupid thing for whoever did it," he said.

[hood]

And of course the obligatory SWAT pictures from the scene.

http://us.news2.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20031030/capt.wx11310302032.capitol_intruder_wx113.jpg

http://us.news2.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20031030/capt.wx11410302034.capitol_intruder_wx114.jpg

http://us.news2.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20031030/capt.wx11110302026.capitol_intruder_wx111.jpg

http://us.news2.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20031030/capt.wx11010302012.congress_intruder_wx110.jpg

[Beowulf]

That's not a real SWAT team...where's the tough hispanic chic??!!! :P

[Apogee]

She's under cover DUH

[StarvingStudent47]

I'm disheartened to learn that the security didn't look at the image until after the person had collected their bag and left. I mean, the whole point of security at the front door is to make sure that weapons never get INTO the building to begin with, right?

A) In cases like these, where it's just a toy gun, the whole incident could have been resolved without clearing out the building, etc.

B) If this hadn't been a Halloween mishap, someone could have been killed before the gun was tracked down.

[martinexsquaddie]

hang on you put a bag through a scanner take the bag out and walk off before anyone checks rofl rofl rofl rofl rofl rofl rofl rofl