SUNDAY, Washington D.C. – After driving his car into a vehicle barricade near the US Capitol Building, a man killed himself with a gunshot to the head in front on responding police.
Shortly after 4:00 AM local time, the man drove his car into a vehicular barricade at the intersection of East Capitol Street NW and Second Street NW. According to Capitol Police, once his car became “engulfed in flames,” the man exited the vehicle and fired multiple shots into the air.
As police approached, the man turned the gun on himself and delivered a fatal shot to his head. No one else was injured in the incident.
Law Enforcement Investigating Car Crash, Gunshots and Suicide on East Capitol Street: https://t.co/ERXIewTGxc pic.twitter.com/MZULCQlS9i
— U.S. Capitol Police (@CapitolPolice) August 14, 2022
In the initial press conference, police had not yet identified the man, but later determined that he was a twenty-nine year old from Delaware named Richard A. York III.
In that same initial statement, Capitol Police said, “At this time, it does not appear the man was targeting any Members of Congress, who are on recess, and it does not appear officers fired their weapons. Our investigators are looking into the man’s background.”
According to DC’s Metropolitan Police Chief, Tom Manger, the man did have a criminal record that spanned “the past 10 years or so.” Manger also said that York had “no political ideology that we’re aware of at this point” that might have motivated the attack.
Manger added, “He took out a handgun and began firing that gun indiscriminately, and he fired it a number of times.”
Currently, Capitol Police are investigating security footage from many vantage points in attempts to determine what York’s intentions were, if any.
Manger added that aside from the gun York fired, the only other questionable items in his vehicle were several aerosol cans that ignited shortly after the initial crash.
The DC Fire Department has not yet determined whether or not York deliberately set the car on fire after hitting the barricades. Manger had said earlier that, “It appears that the individual may have started the fire himself as he was getting out of the car.”
