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:
Within days of the attack, lawmakers started talking about reviving a stalled project to rebuild the visitor's center underneath the Capitol. It would be an air-conditioned welcome spot and meeting point for visitors, but Capitol police officers said it would also be a welcome addition to security by also regulating the flow of visitors and providing an evacuation route in case of an emergency. Then-Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-Miss.) said a center would have stopped the 1998 shooter from being able to get so close to the Capitol. [The Washington Post]
Of course, creating the center didn't solve everything, as then-Rep. James T. Walsh (R-N.Y.) had warned.
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"It's not a cure-all," he said. "If there had been a visitors center, he probably would have killed someone in the visitors center. No matter where you stop an angry person with a gun, someone is going to get hurt."
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