U.S. Capitol Police officers stand near a car that crashed into a barricade on Capitol Hill in Washington, April 2, 2021. (VOA)
An attack at the US Capitol complex in Washington DC has left one police officer dead and another in hospital with injuries.
A car crashed into a security barrier before the driver lunged towards the officers with a knife, police said.
The officers opened fire and the suspect, who has not been identified, was shot dead.
The city’s acting police chief has said the attack does not appear to be terrorism-related.
“Whether the attack was at law enforcement, or whoever, we have a responsibility to get to the bottom of it and we’ll do that,” Robert Contee, the acting chief of Washington DC’s Metropolitan Police Department, said at a news conference on Friday.
“It is with a very, very heavy heart that I announce one of our officers has succumbed to his injuries,” Acting Capitol Police Chief Yogananda Pittman said at the conference.
The exact circumstances of the officer’s death are not yet clear.
There is an increased security presence around the Capitol building, where the US Congress sits, and a number of police cars surrounding the area. (BBC)
