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A man who claimed to have a bomb in a pickup truck near the US Capitol was taken into custody by police on Thursday after a five-hour standoff that prompted an evacuation of nearby buildings and paralysed a section of Washington for much of the day.
“He stepped out and they got him. We have one in custody,” a police officer told Reuters.
Capitol Police chief J Thomas Manger told reporters that the man parked his vehicle on a sidewalk outside the US Library of Congress at about 1.15pm Irish time and told an officer who approached him that he had a bomb while holding what appeared to be a detonator.
MEDIA ALERT: This is an active bomb threat investigation. The staging area for journalists covering this situation is at Constitution and First Street, NW for your safety.
— U.S. Capitol Police (@CapitolPolice) August 19, 2021
Please continue to avoid the area around the Library of Congress. pic.twitter.com/jTNVaBmVwR
Police did not know the man’s motive, he said. – Reuters