華盛頓發生槍擊事件 國會大廈已封鎖

WASHingTON - A dramatic car chase through the streets of Washington from near the WhiteHouse to the U.S. Capitol ended in gunfire on Thursday when law enforcement officers shotand killed the driver as lawmakers and aides huddled in a lockdown.

The identity of the driver - a woman - was not released.

"The suspect in the vehicle was struckby gunfire and at this point has been pronounced (dead)," Washington's police chief, CathyLanier, told ing a black car, the 34-year-old woman rammed security barricades "at the very outerperimeter of the White House," U.S. Secret Service spokesman Ed Donovan said. Then the car,carrying a 1-year-old girl, raced up Pennsylvania Avenue toward the Capitol where Congresswas in session.

Police gave chase and fired at the car. It finally came to a halt near the Capitol building, saidCapitol Police Chief Kim Dine.

"My understanding is there was a 1-year-old child in the car," Dine said. "I believe one of ourofficers rescued the child," who was taken to a hospital.

The incident rattled Washington just three weeks after a government contractor opened fire atthe Washington Navy Yard, about 1.5 miles (2.4 km) from the Capitol, killing 12 people andwounding three others before he was shot to death by police.

Michael McCaul, the chairman of the House of Representatives Homeland Security Committee,told CNN that officials believe the woman driving the car in Thursday's incident may have hadmental health problems.

"I got that from multiple sources - that they think she may have had some mental health issues,"he said. "Obviously the way she responded at the gate near the White House and then turningaround and hitting Secret Service."

The woman was a resident of Connecticut and the girl in the car was her daughter, McCaulsaid.

When the shooting erupted, lawmakers were trying to find a solution to a budget impasse thatpartially shut down the U.S. government this week. The Capitol was locked down for about anhour during the incident.

Lawmakers were told to shelter in place on the floor of the House. Outside, some tourists werefrightened.

"I was just eating a hot dog over here and I heard about four or five gunshots, and then aswarm of police cars came in wailing their sirens," said Whit Dabney, 13, who was visitingWashington from Louisville, Kentucky, and heard the shots a couple of blocks away.

Witness Travis Gilbert said several police cars chased the black sedan at high speed towardthe Capitol.

"They ran all the red lights. It was a very dangerous situation," Gilbert said.

Hit by car

Two officers were hurt in Thursday's incident. One was a Secret Service officer who was struckby the suspect's car outside the White House, Donovan said.

The other was a Capitol Police officer whose car struck a barricade during the mid-afternoonchase. It ranged over about a mile and a half and lasted just a few minutes, officials said.

All the shooting appears to have been done by police; law enforcement sources said thesuspect did not shoot a gun and there is no indication that she had one.

Dine said it appeared there was no connection to terrorism.

Just before the Capitol lockdown, Senator John McCain of Arizona was on the Senate floorurging that President Barack Obama and a bipartisan group of senators launch negotiations tobreak the deadlock over government funding and a debt limit increase.

The House had just passed a bill to fund the National Guard and reservists who are not onactive duty during the shutdown.

The Capitol police, who were deemed "essential" staff, were at work despite the governmentshutdown, but they are not being paid.

"What really comes home to me is that these are all people who are working without pay rightnow," Representative Matt Cartwright, a Democrat from Pennsylvania, said on CNN. He wasoutside on a Capitol balcony when he said he heard seven or eight shots "all in less than asecond."

Obama was briefed on the incident, a White House official said, providing no further details.

Security is tight near the Capitol, but there have been previous shootings in the area. In 1998,a gunman burst through a security checkpoint at the Capitol and killed two Capitol Policeofficers in an exchange of fire that sent tourists and other bystanders ping for cover. Thesuspect, Russell Eugene Weston Jr., was not charged with a crime because of apparent mentalinstability.

北京時間10月4日凌晨消息，一個戲劇性的汽車追逐穿過華盛頓的街道從白宮附近，當執法人員shotand殺死了司機和助手，議員們擠在一個全面封鎖的國會大廈裏。

報道稱，美國國會警察向在國會大廈工作的人員發佈警告，要求他們待在辦公室內並鎖緊門。大廈內的廣播說，“有報告稱國會山有槍擊。請躲避好。”

報道稱，有警察在大廈外集結。當時在國會山南側露臺的弗吉尼亞州民主黨衆議員蓋瑞-康諾里（Gerry Connolly）表示，他聽到連續快速的七到八聲槍響。警察隨後從國會山的西側正門疏散遊客，國會和高等法院的辦公室被要求暫時封閉。

衆議院少數黨領袖南希-佩羅西（Nancy Pelosi）通過推特消息稱，“所有議員和工作人員，我們已經處於暫時的封鎖狀態，國會警察將很快控制這個區域。請注意安全。”

後續報道稱，一名帶着小孩的女性駕駛她的車撞擊靠近白宮的一個保安崗亭，之後向國會山方向逃離。警方在之後的追逐戰中開槍，開槍的地點就在國會大廈附近。

來自警方的消息來源說，有一名警官因爲車輛的撞擊受傷，還有一名女性嚴重受傷。MedStar華盛頓特區醫療中心證實在週四下午收治了兩個病人，其中一人是國會山警察，但是醫院沒有透露傷者的更多情況。

初步報告顯示，肇事的女性並沒有向警方開槍，警方在判斷她試圖使用車輛作爲武器進行攻擊之後向她開火還擊。國會警察總長吉姆-迪恩（Kim Dine）表示，警方認爲這是一起獨立事件，“沒有信息顯示事件和恐怖主義有關。”

根據警方人員的說明，事件從15街與賓夕法尼亞大道西北向接近白宮的交匯處開始，有車輛撞擊防止車輛接近白宮的崗亭，這輛車迅速逃逸，警方隨即展開追擊。

54歲的里賈納-羅梅羅（Regina Romero）說，她當時正在國會大廈外拍照，聽到了10到12聲槍響。她說，看到警察追逐一輛黑色的車，然後是很響的爆炸聲，“好象是炸彈”。她回憶說，整個事件持續了大約三分鐘，她並不清楚那聲巨響是車輛撞擊的聲音還是爆炸聲。

來自新西蘭的26歲遊客馬修-雅各布斯（Matthew Jacobs）說，他看到一輛黑色的車“試圖衝過白宮的路障”，撞到了一個人。他描述說，“警察開始集結並且追擊。”他也補充說，被車撞到路障下方的那個人看起來傷得並不重。

一名白宮官員說，奧巴馬總統已經聽取了事件的彙報；白宮方面正與警方保持密切聯繫以關注事態發展。

美國國會共和黨和民主黨目前在預算問題上形成了僵局，導致了聯邦政府17年以來的首次部分關門，有超過80萬聯邦機構僱員被迫接受無薪休假，兩黨還在是否提高政府的借債上限問題上繼續展開辯論。