After reports of shots fired at the United States Capitol Visitor Center, all BU students and staff in Washington D.C. are safe, BU spokesperson Colin Riley said.
“There was a shelter-in-place instruction in the Capitol, and that order has now been lifted,” Riley said. “We’ve checked, and all of our students are fine.”
Riley said there are several BU students interning in the House office building and one interning in the Senate building, and they are all accounted for. It is unknown if they were in the buildings at the time of shooting.
U.S. Capitol police locked down the entire U.S. Capitol Complex due to a potential security threat, according to an email sent to those working in the complex.
Those working in the Capitol received emails Monday at around 8 a.m. that informed them that there would be shelter-in-place drills for actions they would take if a shooting occurred, according to the email. The drills only applied to the Capitol and not the Capitol Visitor Center.
CNN reported that when the suspect went through a metal detector in the Capitol, an alarm sounded and he drew his gun. The male suspect was immediately shot by Capitol police this afternoon.
The suspect is now in custody and was injured by shrapnel, according to CNN. A female bystander was also injured.
According to the Senate sergeant at arms, the lockdown has been lifted and the Capitol is open for official business only. The Capitol Visitor Center remains closed, and road closures have been put in place.
The D.C. Police Department confirmed that there is no longer an active threat to the area. “There has been an isolated incident at the US Capitol,” the department tweeted. “There is no active threat to the public.”
