Man kills himself after crashing car near US Capitol

WASHINGTON • A man drove his car into a barricade near the US Capitol building early on Sunday and then died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, the authorities said.

The man, identified as Richard York III, exited his car, which crashed at East Capitol Street and Second Street after 4am, as it caught fire, the US Capitol Police said in a statement. He fired several shots into the air and then shot himself as officers approached him.

Officers did not shoot back, the statement said. No one else was hurt.

The authorities said York, 29, was from Delaware and had a criminal history that included burglary, theft and assault.

Details of those past criminal cases were not immediately available, and a motive for his actions remained unclear as at Sunday evening.

"At this time, it does not appear the man was targeting any members of Congress, who are on recess," the statement said.

The US Supreme Court is also near the barricade that York struck.

Cases of violence directed at public buildings and officials have grown since the attack on the Capitol on Jan 6 last year.

Last Thursday, a man who tried to breach the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Cincinnati office was shot and killed by law enforcement officers after a stand-off.

He had been on the FBI's radar for months for potential involvement in the attack on the Capitol.

A warrant to search for classified material at former president Donald Trump's Florida beachfront home and resort, Mar-a-Lago, prompted right-wing and Republican figures to warn of potential upcoming violence.

NYTIMES