The U.S. Capitol was locked down Thursday afternoon after reports of shots being fired in the vicinity.
Capitol Police issued a warning stating: Shelter in Place - Gunshots Reported.
Capitol Hill personnel including the Senate Press Gallery complied with the order and locked doors.
News crews were running towards the Hart Building, which is near the Supreme Court building. People, mainly tourists, were seen running away from Amtrak's Union Station towards the Capitol.
Police outside the building were scurrying, some with rifles in hand but pointing toward the ground.
The site of the shooting is reported to be near 1st Street and Constitution Avenue Northeast.
According to a McClatchy reporter inside the Dirksen Senate Office Building news reporters who attempted to leave the building were told to stay inside. Capitol police asked people in the office building to move away from the windows.
Shortly after the reports of shots fired at the Capitol, the Secret Service began putting up metal barricades along Pennsylvania Avenue in front of the White House and were herding tourists off the sidewalk and into nearby Lafayette Park.
Few knew what was happening and tourists began to congregate, taking pictures of the officers on horseback and as they began moving the barricades into place.
Comments