The Capitol Visitor Center is basically meant to stop shooters before they get farther into the complex

The irony of the shooting today.
(Image credit: TIM SLOAN/AFP/Getty Images)

The U.S. Capitol went under lockdown Monday afternoon after gunshots were reported at the Capitol Visitor Center. The shooter is reportedly in custody.

The center was apparently built specifically for situations like this one, The Washington Post reports. In July 1998, a shooter fatally shot two police officers as he made his way through the Capitol, prompting talk of establishing a new center:

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Julie Kliegman

Julie Kliegman is a freelance writer based in New York. Her work has appeared in BuzzFeed, Vox, Mental Floss, Paste, the Tampa Bay Times and PolitiFact. Her cats can do somersaults.