The United States Capitol Police arrested an 18-year-old man on Tuesday afternoon after he exited a vehicle and ran toward the Capitol building with a loaded shotgun. No one was hurt and there was no further threat to the area, the agency said.
The episode occurred just after noon, when the armed man got out of a white Mercedes S.U.V. parked on Maryland Avenue and began running toward the Capitol, Chief Michael G. Sullivan of the Capitol Police told reporters. Capitol Police officers confronted the man at the base of a staircase walkway near the West Front of the building, drew their firearms and ordered him to drop his weapon. The man “immediately complied” and lay on the ground, where he was taken into custody, Mr. Sullivan said.
The man was wearing a tactical vest and gloves and carrying additional ammunition rounds. A Kevlar helmet and a gas mask were also found in his vehicle, Mr. Sullivan said.
Investigators were still working to determine the man’s motive. Capitol Police temporarily closed a section of Maryland Avenue near the Garfield Monument, and the authorities have footage of the man but were asking members of the public who may have taken additional cellphone footage to send it in, Mr. Sullivan said.
Capitol Police did not immediately release the man’s name, but said he was not known to them and was not from the area. There did not appear to be any other suspects involved, the agency said.
Congress was not in session this week, but the episode comes at a time when lawmakers have faced escalating threats. A man attacked Representative Ilhan Omar of Minnesota during a town hall event in Minneapolis less than a month ago, and lawmakers had already been grappling with intense fears about their personal safety after the assassination of the right-wing activist Charlie Kirk on a college campus.
Capitol Police said it had investigated nearly 15,000 “concerning statements, behaviors, and communications directed against members of Congress, their families, staff, and the Capitol complex” in 2025, roughly a 58 percent increase over 2024.
Mr. Sullivan, who commended the officers who responded on Tuesday for their “brave service,” said that Capitol Police had held an active shooter exercise a few months ago “virtually in the same spot” where the man was confronted. “We do those active shooter exercises every single month,” he said, “and that’s why we do it.”
Anushka Patil is a Times reporter covering breaking and developing news around the world.
The post Police Arrest Man Who Ran Toward the Capitol With a Loaded Gun appeared first on New York Times.
