The U.S. Capitol was on lockdown after reports of shots fired on March 28. Capitol lockdown lifted after shooting The incident was not believed to be connected to a larger plot.

A man was shot by the U.S. Capitol Police in a visitor screening area after he drew a weapon and pointed it at officers, police said on Monday afternoon.

The man was transported to a local hospital and his condition was listed to critical as of late Monday. A woman suffered unspecified injuries during the incident. No officers were hurt.


The incident is being treated as an isolated criminal incident and not as a broader threat.

"We believe that this is the act of a single person that has frequented the Capitol grounds before. There is no reason to believe this is anything more than a criminal act," said USCP Police Chief Matthew Verderosa. "It appears that the screening process worked how it was supposed to."

The man was later identified as 66-year-old Larry R. Dawson of Tennessee. He was charged with assault with a deadly weapon and assault on a police officer while armed.

He will appear at District of Columbia Superior Court once he is discharged from the hospital, police said.

The Capitol was locked down for about an hour Monday afternoon, and staffers were ordered to shelter in place on an otherwise quiet recess day on Capitol Hill. The lockdown has since been lifted, and the Capitol Visitor Center is expected to reopen for regular business on Tuesday.

At about 2:39 p.m. Monday, the man entered the screening checkpoint at the Capitol Visitor Center, an underground area used for tourist entry, Verderosa said. He was shot by at least one officer after pointing what appeared to be a weapon at officers, police said, and a weapon was recovered.

The Associated Press initially reported that an officer had been shot but later updated its report to say it was unclear whether that was true.

While the Hill was returning to normal on Monday evening, the scene was far more chaotic earlier in the day, as officials used the Capitol Hill public address system to notify staff and visitors of the shooting and the Senate sergeant-at-arms ordered the complex to shelter in place.

Vicente Ruiz, 31, of Spain was visiting the Capitol with two friends when he suddenly saw people running and yelling, "gunshots, everybody run!” They scrambled to an exit door but couldn’t get outside because it was locked. At the same time, people outside the Visitor Center were pushing to get inside, but were unable todo so.

Ruiz and his friends ran into a bathroom and hid.

"People were running and screaming. The police were like, ‘Run! Run! Go! Go!'” Ruiz said. “People … looked so scared."

Wendy Kissman of Chicago was about to start a Capitol building tour with her husband and two children when they were instructed over the PA system to get to a secure area. People flooded into an auditorium where a film to start the tour was about to begin, she said, and were kept inside the auditorium while the situation was assessed.

Two ambulances were seen driving toward the Capitol after the incident.

Carol Archambeault of California was in the visitor center preparing for her tour of the grounds when someone started yelling "get out, get out!"

"At first, I thought someone was yelling at their own family members. It was scary. ... No one knew what was happening," Archambeault said.

Hill employees were locked in offices during the incident, and police officers were running through the complex with guns drawn. A previously scheduled drill before the shooting only added to the confusion as the news broke.

Most lawmakers aren't in Washington this week, with both chambers on recess. But there was still some official activity on the Hill — Sens. Ben Cardin of Maryland and Joe Donnelly of Indiana were meeting with Merrick Garland, President Barack Obama's nominee to fill the vacant Supreme Court seat. And the Senate was scheduled for a pro forma session.

The White House was also briefly locked down after news of the shooting broke.