A US Capitol police officer was killed and another injured when a man rammed into them at a barricade outside the Capitol on Friday. The suspect was shot by police after getting out of the car and attacked on officers. He later died in a nearby hospital.
Officer William “Billy” Evans, an 18-year police veteran, was identified as the officer murdered on Friday. Capitol Police said the other officer was in stable condition with non-life-threatening injuries.
Law enforcement sources told CBS News that the suspect was identified as 25-year-old Noah R. Green of Indiana, who had not been on law enforcement radar.
Green, an African American man, was not on any watchlists and appeared to have acted alone, according to a federal law enforcement official and a Capitol Hill source.
Police said Green rammed his car into the officers at 1:02 p.m. and then got out of the car and rushed towards them. The agents then fired on the suspect, Yogananda Pittman, Capitol’s acting chief of police, said at a news conference Friday. Multiple sources said one of the officers had been stabbed in the face, but it was unclear which officer was stabbed.
Shortly after 1:00 PM, Capitol Police sent an initial warning to Congressional staff, warning them of an “outside security threat.” Within about an hour and a half, the police sent another warning that the threat had been ‘neutralized’.
In a statement, President Biden said he and First Lady Jill Biden were “heartbroken” when they learned of the attack, adding that he received briefings on the incident from his homeland security adviser. Mr. Biden, who was at Camp David for a weekend, ordered that the flags of the White House be lowered to half the staff.
J. Scott Applewhite / AP
Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in a letter to colleagues that she ordered flags from the Capitol to be reduced to half-staff as well.
“At a time of such suffering, words are not enough. However, I hope it will be a comfort to the family of Officer Evans and the family of the other officer who suffered damage in the course of their duties, that so many are heartbroken and grateful for the officers’ courageous patronage of the Capitol, “Pelosi said.” May it be a consolation to Officer Evans and his family that the American flag flies half staff in his honor and in honor of the sacrifice of the entire Capitol Police Department , and that the president has designated this honor for the White House and all federal buildings. “
Capitol Police said the Evans family is asking for privacy at this point.
The incident came nearly three months after rioters raided the Capitol in a deadly attack on Jan. 6. The riot resulted in the deaths of five people, including Capitol police officer Brian Sicknick. Two Capitol Police officers also died of suicide after the attack, and dozens of officers were injured.
The union representing the officers called Friday’s attack “a tragic situation that adds to a very difficult year for our membership.”
After the attack in January, fences were placed around the Capitol complex and thousands of National Guard troops were sent to Washington. That security fence was taken down last week, although a low inner fence around the Capitol itself remains in place.
The barricade where the incident took place is a checkpoint on the Senate side of the Capitol. It was introduced after the 9/11 terrorist attacks to protect the Capitol from potential car bombings, noted Congressman Tim Ryan, who chairs the committee that oversees Capitol Police.
There were fewer people than usual in the Capitol on Friday because Congress is on hiatus; most legislators are in their home state. Other convention workers, as well as reporters and police, were in their offices.
Andres Triay, Michael Kaplan, Kris Van Cleave and Rebecca Kaplan contributed to the reporting.