Man commits suicide after crashing car into barricade near U.S. Capitol

A man shot and killed himself in Washington, D.C., early Sunday after crashing a car into a barricade near the U.S. Capitol, National Review reports.

According to Capitol Police, the man rammed a barricade located at East Capitol Street and Second Street at around 4 a.m. His car caught fire, at which point he exited the vehicle and fired his gun several times into the air. Officers approached the man, who then fatally shot himself.

"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," authorities said. Per National Review, "[i]nvestigators have not yet identified the man or revealed a motive and are probing the man's background."

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

The Guardian compared the incident to cases from 2021 and 2013, in which individuals rammed barricades near government buildings in the nation's capital. Both attacks resulted in the driver being shot and killed by police.

Others recalled the public suicide in April of climate activist Wynn Bruce, who died after setting himself on fire outside the Supreme Court.