sure it will be coming out in a second for all of you that are there watching this. alexander bolton is with the hill. are you there? >> yes. >> the emergency alert has announced they're lifting the shelter in place order on capitol hill. what do you see from your vantage point? >> well, people are huddled around televisions. the senate is in recess. they've suspended operations on the senate floor. people are trying to figure out what's going on. there's a lot of confusion, even among some of the capitol officers. there have been a couple reports. number one a shooting at 1st and constitution northwest. also reports of a shooting at 2nd and constitution northeast. the capitol police reacted very quickly. they scrambled to lock the doors down and to lock offices and to tell the capitol hill workers and staffers to move to the innermost parts of the office,

to grab a cape hood if ner necessary, and to get away from windows and doors. >> we've been told they've lifted the shelter in place order on the capitol. let's go to kelly o'donnell. kelly, what are you seeing where you are right now? >> that's right, tamron. we've just been given an all clear sign, so there's a message going out through the in-house tv and message system on the u.s. capitol grounds that there is an all clear. the incident has been concluded. so normal operations can resume. neither the house nor the senate floors are back up and running yet, but this has been a very tense time over the last -- i'm not even sure how long the time has elapsed here. we have been in this lockdown mode. that's become a word americans are all too familiar with of what that means. we have several united states senators who are saying that they heard three to five popping sounds. they were earwitnesses to this.

we've seen the evacuation of at least one individual who appeared to me to be wearing a u.s. capitol police uniform. we will soon hopefully get some greater information about what the circumstances were. the authorities we normally are interacting with when an unusual situation takes place are obviously in the middle of it now. i expect we should get some briefings and information soon. >> peter king just told us, kelly, when we spoke with him, that capitol police were to hold a news conference that he believed would be starting soon. we should have some information, an update from them. let me bring in michael isikoff, nbc investigative reporter, who's standing by with us. we were able to get a bit more information as far as how this was believed to have started near the white house from pete williams. what are you able to tell us? >> right. not much more in detail. only that i just spoke to somebody on capitol hill who was

saying they e-mailed the sergeant in arms office to try to get more information about what was actually happening. the e-mail bounced back saying due to the government shutdown, they were unavailable. so that's sort of one sideline we've been hearing a lot, about the impact of the government shutdown on various aspects of both law enforcement and intelligence while everybody is saying emergency personnel are not affected. this may be an indication at least on some levels it is. >> we spoke with congresswoman gabbert, who said that security, despite the shutdown, was pretty much status quo. there were some entrances that were closed, but at least from what she sees day to day and going into work, we know that the capitol police were also still working despite the shutdown as well. but, you know, michael, you were a part of our coverage certainly september 16th when aaron alexis

took the lives of 12 people at the navy yard shooting there. that is not in a distant memory in our minds. that is very near. when you hear something like that, we instantly have that deep take a breath moment of fear. i can't imagine having been there. >> sure. i can tell you i was up on the hill just yesterday. various entrances to the house office buildings were closed, and the security personnel who would normally be there were not. so at least, you know, from my own visual impact, it looked like clearly there has been some draw down. whether or not that relates to what's going on here is, you know, far too speculative at this point. >> michael, thank you. let's go back to kelly o'donnell to get an update from her. as mentioned, we're waiting for an update from capitol police. >> i must have gotten swung back -- >> okay. we don't have kelly o'donnell. this is a fluid situation. as it stands right now, our own pete williams is reporting that

the situation is under control. there's not an active shooter on capitol hill. we are awaiting a news conference from capitol police to get more details here on what happened. pete williams reports that the situation started near the white house. we saw video of at least one capitol police officer transported to the hospital. we're not clear of those injuries, if there was a confrontation between the shooter and capitol police. we're working to get those details. no reports of any tourists or people in and around the area injured. i have with us suzie kim. she's from msnbc.com. i believe you're on the hill there. what can you tell me? we don't have her. what we do know is the situation is under control according to pete williams. we're awaiting a news conference from capitol police. at the time of this shooting, remarkably members of the house were in the chamber debating the

mini funding bill during the shooting and at one point in time were sheltered in place in the chamber. we spoke with a number of members of congress along with their staff forced to remain in their office until the situation got under control as it is right now. we're waiting to get more information on this shooter, this individual, as well as how this unfolded here. not an easy sight to digest and nothing any of us would like to see any given day. here on capitol hill, to see this shutdown as it were and luke noting it was a remarkable scene to see that helicopter land there. a lot of activity still going on. we are -- we are turning our coverage, i believe, over to -- okay. let me go to suzie kim right now. what can you tell me? >> hi, there. so lockdown has been lifted. there was a p.a. announcement over the emergency broadcast

system here. however, i just had been literally outside of the house floor with members who were out on the balcony talking about the shutdown when we heard the shots come out. immediately the capitol police rushed to lock the big glass doors that are the exits from the house floor over here as we were all just sort of stuck in place for maybe 20 minutes or half an hour. >> and how many people were in and around where you were at the time, suzie? >> i would estimate at least a dozen or more members of congress. they had just come off the floor from voting on one of these mini funding bills that the house gop had brought forward. they were just kind of standing around talking to reporters. you know, basically checking their phones when this all happened. it was extremely sudden. the capitol police just rushed into place. >> okay. we're told by our kristen kewelr that the white house was not on lockdown, is not on lockdown.

suzie, do you have any information regarding the activity there? >> all i've heard is reports confirmed by pete williams as well as some other folks that there was a car that went from the white house to the capitol area. the shots, members heard them coming not from the capitol itself but some of the office buildings that are nearby here. other than that and a report from one capitol official that there was an officer who was injured, implying he or she wasn't wounded by gunfire. >> okay. thank you. let me go to pete williams for an update. what can you tell us regarding the white house? kristen welker reported it was not on lockdown. is there a closing of streets there? >> i don't know what the situation at the white house is, but i have a little better sense now how this happened. what we're told by a growing

number of federal officials is that this event started this afternoon a little after 2:00, i guess around 2:15 or so at the white house when the driver of this car, a woman driving this black car, rammed or tried to ram one of the security gates that rings the white house. there are a number of these gates around the white house through which cars can enter or people's i.d.s are checked. this is one that's very far from the white house building itself. it's at 15th and e, as in edward, streets in washington. it's near the treasury building. so that would make it just down pennsylvania avenue from the capitol, about 12 or so blocks from the capitol. about 14 blocks from where the shooting happened. so the driver tries to ram the check point. secret service officials, we believe, uniformed secret service officials began to pursue this car. the driver of the car continues on up, gets -- goes past the

u.s. capitol building, keeps going another block or so, and then that's when the shooting happens at 2nd and constitution. you're looking at it now -- or 1st and constitution. i assume this is a picture of the gate at the white house, it looks to me like. it's very hard to tell from how tight the shot is. it looks like one of the security gates at the white house. so perhaps that's where this started. i can't be sure. >> you know what -- >> in any event, that's the sequence of events here. >> it's interesting you say that. this has been our vantage point for pretty much the entire hour. this was the vantage point where much of the activity was centered. just a gathering of different law enforcement personnel. you could see obviously from the backs of their jackets the different agencies there. the individual, this woman, who was behind the wheel of this car, i'm reading here from your

information i believe that she got out of that vehicle and began shooting, and she was shot. >> that's what some witnesses are saying, that when the car got up to the hill, she jumped out and started shooting. that's when this exchange of gunfire began. so i guess the picture we were looking at a moment ago of the building is actually one of the guard checks up on the hill, not at the white house. i don't think we've seen the picture at the white house yet where the initial -- where this all started. i guess it would have been about a quarter after 2:00 or so. >> okay, pete. let me get you to stand by. kristen welker has more information. she's reporting on nbc news. let's listen in. >> -- from the white house, while they have brought in this extra security. i can also tell you, brian, staff here at the white house in meetings currently monitoring this situation behind closed doors can right now. president obama has been made aware of the situation. he's been briefed on the situation. as we've been saying all day long, this comes in the midst of a government shutdown.

so much uncertainty here in washington to begin with. so this incident only adding to the tensions that already exist here. brian? >> that's our kristen welker there reporting from the white house. it was at the top of the hour that kristen had joined "news nation" for our update on where negotiations stood regarding the government shutdown. that was about 2:05. so perhaps ten minutes, first base not that, after her report around 2:15 eastern time, pete, if you're still there, that's when we believe this incident started near the white house. i don't have pete williams anymore. i do have michael isikoff with us. michael, we're still trying to figure out this timeline. we start this show 2:00 eastern time. kristen welker was live in front of the white house with us about 2:05. it was shortly thereafter this incident apparently started. >> exactly.

i should say that now both the house and senate, the lockdown has been lifted. just to give you a sense of the flavor of how tense it was on capitol hill just a little while ago, i got an e-mail that came from the u.s. capitol police at 2:28 p.m. so this is a few minutes into the incident, reporting that gunshots have been reported on capitol hill. shelter in place. close, lock, and stay away from external doors and windows. take escape hoods and move to the innermost part of the office away from external doors or windows. if you're not in your office, take shelter in the nearest office. check in with your oec and the u.s. capitol police to clear the incident. so that went out to all capitol hill staffers at 2:28 p.m. so at least as of that moment -- and they went on to say no one will be permitted to enter or exit the building until further

directed. so it gives you a sense of just how tense that was. as i said, the lockdown has since been lifted, and i just also wanted -- i think i mentioned before the response that people were getting from -- by the way, that was 2:28 p.m. here's the bulletin that went out at 3:02 p.m. it's roughly a little more than a half hour later. u.s. capitol police have stabilized the incident. occupies may exit their shelter in place location. it was about a half hour there that took place. just to add quickly, i mentioned before the bounceback that somebody got from the sergeant in arms office today trying to find out what was going on and the precise e-mail they got back was i'm currently out of the office due to lapse in

appropriations. there's someone on capitol hill security who was not there today because of what's going on in the budget. >> all right. thank you, michael. again, our pete williams as well as michael reporting now that multiple law enforcement sources in washington, d.c. say this incident started with a female attempting to ram her car into the white house gate at 15th and e. she failed to breach security and was pursued by secret service. according to these law enforcement sources, they've told pete williams this woman bailed out of her car near the capitol and began shooting. she was shot. according to this same source that pete williams spoke with, a police officer injured does not appear to have been hit by a round of fire. that's some of the information we're getting in here. i have with us ryan riley. he's with "the huffington post." where are you right now? >> hi, we're just at the corner of 3rd and constitution right near the location.

we were just moved back by police. what we can see is there's a police car there with damage to the doors as well as a barrier that isn't going back down. it appears to be smashed up. there's a lot of debris in the area. it's not clear the actual vehicle that was allegedly used is in this area. it could have possibly been located in another area or moved. it does appear there is some vehicle smashed into the barrier here. >> okay, ryan. let me go to kristen welker. she's standing by at the white house. kristen, what information are you receiving right now? >> well, tamron, we can confirm that the president has been briefed on the situation, is monitoring the situation. senior administration officials are currently in contact with law enforcement as they try to get to the bottom of exactly what happened. pennsylvania avenue is currently on lockdown. they have brought in extra security here, all of the sort

of onlookers and pedestrians were pushed back to the park across the street. that's lafayette park. they sort of standing by watching the white house, they are also trying to sort of determine what happened watching all of this with wonder, really. i can tell you that the white house is not on lockdown. that means that people who have passes can get into the white house. i can also tell you that staff members right now behind closed doors in meetings. some of those meetings started before we learned about this incident. but clearly they are sort of huddled behind closed doors as they continue to monitor this situation and as they continue to brief the president. >> kristen, i'm curious what you heard. we were on air with you around 2:05 eastern time. this happened soon after. you were doing the usual live shot for us updating the government shutdown. how long did it take for folks to realize that something was going on there? >> well, i have to tell you, tamron, we were not aware that

shots had been fired or that there had been any attempt to breach the white house until it was reported. so just to give you a sense, we didn't hear anything from this vantage point. i think a lot of the reporters here, the correspondents learned about it when we saw the reports come through from capitol hill. so there wasn't sort of a loud noise here at the white house. i say that, i was indoors when this happened the ultimate moment that attempted breach took place. so -- but when we learned about what had happened, i can tell you that sort of a silence fell over the white house here as people tried to figure out exactly what to do. then all the reporters came running out so we could try to work the story. >> kristen, thank you. i'm being told michael isikoff might have more information for us. michael, what do you have? >> only that the lockdown has been lifted on both the house and senate side. we're still waiting for some official news conference here about exactly what happened.

no update from earlier. >> okay, michael. again, pete williams reporting to us that a woman apparently tried to ram the gate at the white house. a chase followed, and she jumped out of that vehicle firing. she was shot. we're waiting to get more information from capitol police as well. we spoke with congressman peter king. i have to estimate maybe eight or nine minutes ago. he was under the impression that this update from capitol police would start soon. the president has been briefed on this incident. the white house staff in touch with law enforcement, monitoring the incident. as stated by pete williams as it relates to an ongoing shooting event, this is not the case. this person, this woman behind the wheel of this vehicle was shot and obviously enough now i custody. the white house was not on

lockdown. we saw a shelter in place on capitol hill, including until the house where lawmakers were discussing a mini funding bill. they were told to shelter in place where they stood. kelly o'donnell is standing by with us. kelly, are you there? >> i am, tamron. we are just really catching our breath here on capitol hill trying to assess what has happened, waiting for more of an official rundown now that the urgency of the moment has subsided. as we've been telling you, the life of capitol hill and its every day way is resuming. lockdown is over. but that did exist for a period of time where there were alarms being sounded. the official e-mail releases going out, all the notifications that come about with drills, which do take place here on a fairly regular basis. so people followed that. the floors of each chamber had been cleared. they can get back to work now, but neither side has. again, i can tell you that the u.s. capitol police said one of their own was injured.

it would seem to me it matches the video we have been seeing where the gentleman on the stretcher appears to be in a uniform. basically now we need more detail about what took place and what possible motivations there were. obviously, protests happen here all the time. 99.9% of them very, very peaceful and accommodating of everyone else's rights and so forth. was this a political event? we don't yet know. was it something else that motivated? we don't yet know. tensions have been running high in just the every day back and forth of politics. this, of course, ramped it up to another level that's put everyone back on their heels. a lot of the other planned events that various members were going to carry out related to the political business have been put on hold. a big pause is taking place now. >> a lot to digest and find out here, kelly. thank you very much. we're going to turn it over to my colleagues at "the cycle." they'll continue the breaking news coverage.

>> this situation very close to capitol hill, where shots were exchanged. i want to point out that the crisis is over. president obama has been made aware of the situation. the house is no longer in lockdown mode. we are now hearing more about the series of events. i want to bring in nbc's justice correspondent pete williams, who's in washington now. pete, we know that this happened about 2:15 this afternoon when a black car tried to ram one of the security gates at the white house. walk us through the series of events. >> right. as we understand it, that's how this starts. a woman driving a black car, apparently with a child in the car, rammed or ran into one of the what are call ballards or security barriers. you see these poles all over washington, the vertical stanchions. this is the one around the white house at 15th and e.

it's very far from the white house building itself. it's on the 15th street side near the treasury department. the secret service then chased her. this was a high-speed chase that went up pennsylvania avenue. she ran several red lights. at one point, authorities believe she was going as fast as 80 miles an hour. then when she gets up, she passes the capitol building that's on the other side of the white house. she passes by the capitol. just a block or so beyond the capitol, crashes her car at either 1st or 2nd and constitution avenues and she is then shot by capitol police. the injured officer that you saw if you were watching us just a moment ago who was being loaded in a helicopter was apparently not, at least our initial information was he was not shot but instead injured by the car, by the crash. as for this second occupant in

the car, we're told it was a child in the car. we don't know the condition of either the woman who was driving the car or the child. we believe the woman was shot, but we don't know whether she's alive or dead. we don't know the condition of the child. the child was seen by eyewitnesses being taken out of the car. we don't know anything about this woman, where she's from. obviously, the authorities are now trying to confirm her identity, and we have no idea why she would have done this, what the motive was or whether there was any clear thought that went into any of this. that seems to be our best understanding of what happened. >> pete, to walk through this area of washington for viewers who may not know, we're talking about the heart of the city. we're talking about where the white house resides, near the treasury building, which is adjacent to the white house, which is where this altercation

began. barrelling towards congress, that 14-block stretch. this is an area that has a high density of security, law enforcement, local police, and federal officials, including, as we've been reporting, uniformed secret service that first responded. how did this work in that area? can you tell us anything about whether any of the boundaries of the white house or the capitol were ever breached? >> no, i don't believe any security was ever breached at either the white house or the capitol. this all happened out on the street. but there are normally capitol policemen on the streets around the capitol building a block or so in every direction because there's a restriction on the kind of traffic that can go near the capitol building. for example, you can't drive a large truck or a large bus directly past either the capitol or congressional office buildings. this is on the senate side of the capitol as opposed to the house side, which is the

opposite. this is all on the senate side. there are two senate office buildings on the other side of the street from the capitol. this all happened near the newer one, the so-called hart senate office building. there would be capitol policemen on the street, standing on the corners at all hours of the day and night. that's their normal posture around the capitol building, but it's u.s. capitol police who would have been on the scene. it's our understanding that the officer injured was a u.s. capitol officer. >> pete, we're looking at live pictures right now. we can see in our view a black car that appears to have crashed in front of sort of a guard station there. there's also what appears to be a black suv off to the side. are either of these vehicles, do you know, the vehicle that tried to ram the white house barricade and then was pursued? >> i can't be 100% sure because the car hasn't been described to me in any detail, but i would

guess it's the smaller, it's the sedan. now t could be that the black suv is the one that pursued it because we know that the uniformed secret service is the officials who first started the chase up to the capitol. so we don't know anything about who she is or what her motive was. >> and do you know, pete, was capitol police in any way lessened or security around the white house or the capitol in any way decreased because of the government shutdown? >> i don't know. >> okay. in terms of the female shooter that was in the car, do we know, was she injured? has she been removed from the scene? >> well, she was shot. we just don't know what the nature of her injuries -- you know, how bad her injuries are. the last i heard was she -- aid was being rendered. the picture you're looking at right now is the capitol

policeman who was hurt we believe by the car crash, not by gunfire. at least that's the initial word from law enforcement officials. there are a number of them up there now responding. fbi, atf, u.s. capitol police, washington, d.c., metropolitan police. you know, we're getting word from many different sources here. of course, the secret service was involved as well because they're the ones who initially began the pursuit when it all started at the white house. >> nbc news justice correspondent pete williams, thank you for your reporting today. we will be keeping up with you here in our reports on this on msnbc. i want to turn to kelly o'donnell from nbc, who's on the hill. you've been telling us that the lockdown is officially over. what else is happening there on the scene? >> well, the u.s. capitol police will hold a news conference in just a matter of a few minutes. we expect to get a lot more details. sources are telling me that the child that was in the car is

safe. as pete has reported, it's believed the woman suspect was shot. the status of her condition has not been reported to us yet. and so we expect to find out more about what the timeline was, who was involved, meaning the personnel that responded, and what, if anything, they can tell us about the path of this alleged shooter from the white house area to here at the capitol. so we expect that the u.s. capitol police is readying right now to give us an update scheduled for 3:30. in times like this, sometimes those schedules loosen up a bit. but this has been a time of people getting back to some of the normal, people in offices around the capitol. both house and senate are not in session, but senators are here, house members are here. all of the heated rhetoric is off for the moment while they pursue the facts of what happened here. was it in any way related to a political statement in which violence intervened?

was it something wholly unrelated? we just don't know yet. but we can say according to sources that the child in the car was safe. that is certainly good news. the officer who appeared to be on the gurney there, we don't have an update on his condition yet. but i expect that at the news conference they might be able to give us a little more description about how he was involved in this as well. back to you guys. >> yeah, that's an important detail there, that the child is reportedly safe. we don't have a lot details on how this female shooter that was driving the car that began near the white house on the corner near the treasury department and went to congress, you know, what was going through their mind. we will be taking this press conference live in a matter of minutes from the capitol police. is there anything else you can report from your sources on the hill, staff, or members of congress regarding what the house does now?

>> well, i think everyone is going to be mindful that an incident like this overtakes the political back and forth. so some of the scheduled events they had planned to fight it out over the current political battle of the moment have been put on hold. i can tell you the house is now back in session. i see members of congress are speaking. so the work will resume. we had been in a posture where the join going debate was would the government be reopened a piece at a time where the house has passed some measures today to provide funding for, in particular, the army reserve and national guard to provide paychecks for them as well as some of the other critical areas. no action from the senate right now. the politics will just be put aside while the more urgent matter gets dealt with. the campus here is much like a college campus in sidze. you can have this police activity happening in one area and a normal existence returning elsewhere. we have heard from some senators

that everyone in their office is fine. we're told speaker john boehner was in what's known as the cloak room, which is off the house floor. he and his staff are fine. there's been no threat to it the larger legislative community here, so all of that is fine. it's just been kind of an anxiety ridden afternoon on top of what had been a stressful political atmosphere. >> all right. nbc's kelly o'donnell on the hill. thank you so much for that report. please stay with us. we have nbc's kristen welker live at the white house now. kristen, what can you tell us from where you are? >> well, krystal, president obama has been briefed on what happened. they are monitoring the situation here. senior administration officials in contact with law enforcement officials as they try to get to it the bottom of exactly what happened. i was just inside the white house a few moments ago. i can tell you that some of the staffers, top officials here behind closed doors are meeting as they monitor this situation.

outside pennsylvania avenue, which is the road right outside the white house, parts of that are shut down. they have brought in extra law enforcement just as an extra precaution. that is not unusual. that is something you would expect when there is any perceived threat to the white house. they have pushed all of the onlookers to the park across the street. a lot of them have just stuck around to try to watch this incredible event unfold. what they're watching really is extra security, which has been brought in. i can tell you that the white house itself is not on lockdown mode. however, it is only open to people who have passes to get in. so clearly a sense of increased security here while they try to get to the bottom of exactly what happened, but the president has been made aware of this situation. he has been briefed. i anticipate he will be briefed regularly throughout the afternoon. back to you. >> all right. thank you very much. we're going to bring in nbc news

michael isikoff. walk us through, especially for viewers just joining us, what we know now about this scenario. we may go to that news conference at any moment. >> right, and i suspect we'll learn a lot more at this news conference. we began with this attempt to ram the gate at the white house. then the driver made her way -- and we believe it was a woman -- down to the capitol where the -- and it began when a female attempted to ram her car into the white house at 15th and e. she failed to breach security, was pursued by secret service, bailed out of her car near the capitol, and began shooting. she was then shot. there appears to have been a capitol hill police officer who was wound ed in that incident. we're already starting to get some political reaction from

members of congress. as you might have heard before, i was talking to a capitol hill staffer who said he was trying to find out some information from the sergeant in arms office right in the middle of this lockdown and got an e-mail bounceback saying that the individual at the sergeant in arms was not at work because of the budget shutdown. so an indication that security may, or at least some people involved in capitol hill security, may, in fact, be impacted by what's going on. >> and we're going to go right to this news conference. >> -- attempted to pass a barricade. the vehicle was attempted to be stopped by secret service uniform division. shots were potentially fired. they pursued the vehicle. the vehicle came, struck one of our vehicles here at 2nd and

maryland -- 1st and constitution, and ultimately ended up at 2nd and maryland east where it crashed into one of our barricades. both scenes are secured. we initially locked down some buildings in the capitol vicinity. we have no information this is related to terrorism or is anything other than an isolated incident. we are working -- the metropolitan police department is handling the shooting scene investigation, and obviously assisting the secret service and the u.s. capitol police. we are still investigating that. we believe there was a child in the car. we're still collecting those facts. >> was the police officer shot? >> i don't have a condition on the person in the car at this time. >> is there any plan to secure

different locations of the federal government like the white house, capitol in case of this incident? >> no, no. this appears to be an isolated incident with this one vehicle involved. there's been a coordination between all the agencies that i just mentioned, including the fbi. so both scenes are under control. >> can you tell us about the child? >> i do not have that -- >> do you have the condition of the injured officer? >> on the way, as i mentioned, one of our officers was struck in his car. he appears to be conscious and breathing. >> no officers shot, chief? >> as far as we know, no officer has been shot. >> the driver of the car was a woman? >> we believe so. >> chief, where were shots fired? at the white house and here? >> we're still investigating that. we have multiple scenes, so we're still collecting evidence.

it all appears to be one incident. multiple scenes. >> were shots fired at the capitol? >> no, we have no information that shotted were fired. what i'll do in about half an hour, i'll give you an update. how's that? >> is the suspect dead? >> i do not have the condition of the suspect. i will be back at quarter after 4:00. >> we have been listening live to a news conference from the capitol police chief confirming, as we have been reporting, there was a shooting at the capitol. the police chief there confirming it occurred at 1st street and constitution avenue northwest and moved up a block ending at 2nd street and constitution avenue. what that means is it was first near the corner of the field

adjacent to the u.s. capitol and ultimately ended with the shooting by the hart building. we go to casey hunt on the scene. >> reporter: hey, ari. we're actually standing here right where the capitol police just told us all of this occurred. you can see behind me what's left, what the police are sort of clearing away. the scene here in particular was a capitol police car that i spoke with several witnesses, and they said they heard the capitol police car crash into the barrier. there are several flat, metal barriers that come up out of the ground at that location that are designed to be able to lockdown, lock out the capitol. clearly those were not up when this car went racing up the street. so it was ultimately one of the last cop cars in the line that chased this suspect up the hill

that ultimately was caught on the barricade and potentially injured. so i spoke with several people here. they were just visiting washington, d.c. they were actually scheduled to have a meeting this afternoon with senator mitch mcconnell. they're from louisville, kentucky, which is his hometown. they were eating hot dogs on the corner where they said that they heard several shots ring out. one of the men said that he actually thought he sensed a police presence. he saw increased number of policemen and sirens before the shots rang out. after that happened, there was a convergence of law enforcement on this scene. so obviously we're still getting some details about exactly what the driver of the car had, who shot first, and how this all played out. so hopefully the capitol police will have more to say as they said they're going to come back and update us as we go along. >> casey hunt on the scene for us. let's turn to our own luke

russert, who's at capitol hill, joining us on the phone from his office. he was there on the hill when this all went down. luke, we're hearing the house will reconvene. they are expected to walk off the floor at 4:25, 4:35. what is the latest? >> yeah, i'll sort of give you guys a run through. around 2:20 p.m., i was in my office and i heard four loud bangs and booms. it was so loud it startled me. it caused me to stand up. i then looked outside my window. my window overlooks the west front of the capitol. that's the side the inauguration is on for the president. i saw capitol police, guns drawn, and they started running. they then told tourists, there were a few dozen or so, to get down on their stomachs. they abided by those orders, obviously. a few minutes later, capitol police told the tourists to run. it was quite an amazing thing to

see. a few dozen or so tourists actually sprinting over towards independence avenue. i then also saw police pursue a car that went out of my view. from what we have garnered so far, a chase ensued. after this, guy, after the suspect was apprehended, we presume, a helicopter actually landed on the west front, which turned out to be a medevac helicopter. the capitol police officer in that helicopter was not shot. he was injured when his car rammed that of the suspect. we were told the suspect is a woman from the sergeant in arms. we were told there was a baby in the car. the baby is doing okay according to the sergeant in arms. they're taking the baby to it the hospital. the baby is not injured, we believe to be the case right now. we were in lockdown mode until just about 20 minutes ago. when this occurred, guys, i think this is an important

point, the people in the house of representative was stopped. the floor went into immediate recess. people were told to shelter in place. you know see the proceedings of the house continue. that's very much symbolic. you're not going to let us close down our government because of an incident. you saw on capitol hill the other day for a good 20 or 30 minutes some sheer panic. it was something that folks here obviously, when you go to work at the capitol, you know it's somewhat of a target. it's very much an open place. there's no fence like there is the white house. you have a lot of capitol police who do their job wonderfully every single day. part of what makes this place great, which is the openness, also makes it an easily accessible target. that's what happened today. from what we know now, we still have a secure perimeter. i'm standing on the east front of the capitol, the other side. we still have a lot of police with guns drawn. obviously, the mood is tense.

there is relief that the worst seems to be over. >> luke, elaborate more on what you're able to see from where you stand in your office. are tourists still pushed back, still a lot of police activity there on the scene? >> yeah, the tourists were pushed out of those fields in the front, as i think ari was mentioning. they're cleaning up the scene to a degree right now when this all happened, guys, it was -- people in the office buildings to the right of the mall sort of scrambled to mare -- their windows. through all this occurring, seemingly out of nowhere, a helicopter lands right in the middle of the mall. when you witness this in person in the span of 30 minutes, there are few words that kind of describe the anxiety coupled with the random excitement. oh, my goodness, what is going

on, coupled with fear. i experienced all those emotions today in a span of 30 minutes, as did a lot of my colleagues. now it's just sort of, you know, what's next. obviously we're trying to find out what was behind this woman doing this today. from members i've spoken to and staff, they're trying to get back to normal. >> luke russert from capitol hill, thank you. we'll keep you with us, obviously. we want to go to michael isikoff, who we just heard from capitol police, a briefing on what has gone on today. as they say, it appears to be an isolated incident, michael, with one vehicle involved, a woman and a child. is there anything else you're hearing? >> no, other than that, apparently an officer was shot. i was struck by the chief's comments about he appears to be conscious and breathing. i think there's still a lot we'll want to hear about the

condition of the officer. i think given what we know now, a woman with a small child in the car hardly sounds like this was part of any kind of political act. but i think there are going to be a lot of questions about the state of security on capitol hill and at the white house. we've gotten constant assurances that emergency personnel are working, but i think there's certainly going to be a lot of questions about the response to this incident and whether or not the full capitol police contingent and sergeant in arms contingents were working when this happened. >> yeah, i mean, in listening to capitol police chief, i had heard him at least during the news conference say there was no officer shot. we will keep an eye on those reports as they come out. he also stressed in that news conference that at this point the capitol police view this as an isolated incident.

he explicitly said at this point in time the capitol police does not view it as part of terrorism or some larger threat, although as we know, that can be subject to change as the investigation continues. nbc news reporting the fbi also involved in this unfolding investigation. i want to go now to kelly o'donnell, who's on the hill. kelly, the house is back in session. as we understand it, they will proceed with normal business and votes presumably in part to suggest that they cannot be immediately stopped by this type of incident, although i'm sure it's a difficult line to walk. what can you tell us? >> that is certainly a principle of the american democracy, that it is not affected by acts of violence or acts that are perhaps intended to get in the way. let's just be clear. the officer injured was not shot. she was injured, struck in a car accident related to this incident. that's a very important point. >> right.

>> also, i come to work here every day, and i have seen more police officers, not less, since the shutdown began. in part, i'm talking to them all day long. they're working their normal shifts. some are working extra hours. so i don't think we should suggest that there is a reduction in the law enforcement footprint here on capitol hill given the shutdown. at least in my experience being here, and it's been a long week, we've been here many hours of the day. i know a lot of these officers from the daily routine. i think there's also a sense that while there are e-mail messages that go out that say, you know, out of the office due to furlough, it's been my experience working here that some of those automatic e-mail messages have gone out when personnel are actually working. but there wasn't a real clear sense of a playbook of how do you shutdown the government, so sometimes some of those phones not being answered or e-mail messages going out add to confusion but don't mean there

aren't people here working. certainly there will be a clear analysis of who was where and how much staff and all of that will unfold. by my own experience, there are lots of officers on duty. in fact, more than on a typical day because they, i think, anticipated there might be more public protests or more members of the public coming here given the politics of what's inside the building. so again, the officer not shot but injured. i'm told a child in the car safe. we don't have any details about the child. and we believe that the woman who was the suspect was engaged with gunfire, we've not been given an official word about her status. bev gotten reports, but we'll just wait until there's an official confirmation on that. i'll defer that to pete and law enforcement sources. so the politics resumes in part because of the scope and scale of this place. as i've said, it's like a college campus. police are doing their work,

investigating two scenes. they tell us there are two crime scene, the one where the car ended and also where the officer was struck. so they're doing work there. we expect probably in a half hour to 40 minutes 40 minutes t another update from the chief of the u.s. capitol police. they are working in coordination with the u.s. secret service and the metropolitan police, the washington, d.c. police department, as we get more details we will bring them to you. >> kelly o'donnell, thank you for that and this morning context about the presence of security on the ground as you're seeing from your reporting. we turn on the phone to senator roger wicker who was outside the capitol today and heard some of the shots. senator, thank you for being with us today. a difficult day down at the capit capitol. what can you tell us? >> i can tell you that around 2:15 i was walking back from the senate side of the capitol toward my office, and the first thing i notice is the officers

were beginning to put on flak jackets in a hurry. there was no confusion. i didn't hear anything else, and then we began to hear sirens and then some police motorcycles went past me at a very high rate of speed, and about that time i heard gunshots. i'd say four to six shots were fired. and, of course, i was walking in the direction of the gunshots, so i stopped, and i noticed senator bernie sanders of vermont was headed my way. we both took cover behind an suv, and then police officers came and told us to get down. i guess you people in the press would be proud to know that some folks with television cameras were running toward the shots and disregarding the admonition

of the policemen, but senator sanders and i did take cover. and then we noticed three other senators walking our way, senator casey and senator brown from ohio, and about that point we were not hearing any more shots, but the police officers told us to make our way quickly back to the capitol building along with all of the other people there, and so we went back to the capitol building and took cover, about you there was just one burst of gunshot, and then we went back to the capitol and began to listen to you guys on the news media to find out exactly what had happened. >> senator, thank you for helping us to understand what's happening there on the ground on this harrowing day. we just heard from kelly o'donnell from her reporting, from what she's seen on the ground, there has not been a lessened security presence. if anything, she said, due to

expectation of increased protesters and public presence, security may even have been elevated. has that been your experience there this week? >> it has seemed i think to those of us who just casually notice, it seemed about right, but i do not believe the partial shutdown had affected the size of the police force in any way. >> and, senator, we have been reporting that the house is back in session. there were opening remarks that said the hearts and prayers of the members of congress were with the men and women in uniform today, expressing immense gratitude, and then turning to ongoing votes and continuing business really. what is your view of that in the house or anything you and your colleagues are doing in the senate today in the wake of these events? >> the senate went into recess subject to the call of the chair, and, frankly, i have the news on here in my office in the

dirkson building, and i can't tell you if the senate is back in session, but there is very legislative business being done in either chamber because whatever negotiations might be taking place, and i hope there are negotiations on the continuing resolution, those negotiations are being done by members of the leadership and the leadership of the budget committee. >> senator, it's no doubt been an unsettling day. what does the scene at the capitol look like right now? is it business as usual and tell us about how the rest of the day will play out up there. >> for about half an hour, the capitol was locked down, and we were not allowed to head back to our offices, and this incident took place about 2:15 best i can remember, and half hour to 40 minutes later we were allowed to

take the tunnel back to our offices, and the capitol is rather quiet right now. i think tourists -- unfortunately tourists are saying away because they have heard of the government shutdown and so many of our attractions in washington, our park service facilities, it's very much made it a lot quieter on capitol hill. there are no tours being given because the personnel are limited in the capitol building. but we're safe, and also on the way back i encountered a bipartisan group of senators, and thank goodness we were talking about what negotiations might take place to get the government back going and

resolve this issue of the debt ceiling. and our nation's long-term debt. >> senator, what do you want your constituents or the american people who are watching, watching this terrible incident which has drawn to a close and is under control, but what do you want people to know? what is your message to the folks watching? >> it's a very, very, very unusual, isolated incident. i have been in the house and senate now for 19 years. this is the first time i have ever heard gunshots anywhere near the capitol complex. as you know, several years ago there was a shooting of some -- of our security officers when a gunman tried to get into the building. this is before security got so tight. but i hope you'll come back and visit us in washington. the capitol complex is safe, and we are protected by a very

professional group of dedicated security officers. >> as you were saying, senator, you were referring to the 1998 incident when two capitol police officers died there in the line of duty when a gunman stormed security headed towards then house majority whip tom delay had we had a recent incident nearby at the capital navy yard. this incident must be nerve-racking coming on the heels of that violent and frightening incident. >> you know, you're never safe anywhere. i think they're totally unrelated, and my understanding is that a woman has been apprehended and is in custody, and i just think in a big city like washington, d.c., with so

much at stake, an isolated incident like this is going to happen every now and then. but i do view the capitol complex as very safe and when i get a chance, i'm going to be right back outside. >> i don't think any of us know if you haven't been through this the feeling of hearing gunshots and we're so glad that you're safe, senator. we're glad you could join us today to walk us through the events as they played out and i want to remind our viewers that there will be another briefing by the capitol police at 4:15, in about 15 minutes, and i want to pass it now over to martin bashir who will keep you up to date with everything that is going on in washington, d.c. >> thank you so much, abby, and good afternoon. we begin with breaking news. a capitol hillo lockdown lifted just a short time ago. shots fired in washington, d.c. it started when a woman in a black car tried to ram her

vehicle into the white house gate, and the secret service engaged then in a high-speed pursuit. that chase continued in the vicinity of the capitol complex, roughly 12 blocks away. shortly after 2:00 p.m. with sources telling nbc news that the suspect then exchanged fire and was shot and killed by capitol police. a chaotic scene followed with the capitol building locked down and a shelter in your place order for anyone occupying the house buildings. the fbi responded, indeed, a helicopter landed on the lawn just outside the capitol and appeared to be air lifting a capitol police officer from the scene. reports indicate the officer may have been injured in the vehicular crash but was not shot. police also say they believe there was a child in the car, a baby with the suspect.

the condition at that child at this point is unclear. as i say, we know very little about the motives for what's happened. the chief of police for the u.s. capitol, kim dine, who appeared a few minutes ago and has told us that he will be holding another press conference in about 15 minutes, said that that child was on its way to the hospital, didn't appear to be injured. reported for us now, nbc's luke russert, because luke heard the gunshots and watched as tourists ran for safety, and he joins us now. luke, talk us through exactly what happened moment by moment because our viewers are used to seeing you on air with us element every day. >> well, martin, it's been a harrowing day here on capitol hill. around 2:20 p.m. i was in my office. it overlooks the west front of the capitol, and i heard four very loud booms and bangs. they were so loud and out of place it immediately caused me to