at one point, she briefly stopped and was surrounded by officers with weapons drawn. here is the scene as recorded by the camera crew on capitol hill. [ car alarm, gunshots ] it all ended a short distance away. tonight the driver, a woman from stanford, connecticut, is dead. her 1-year-old daughter in protective police custody. think about this. the u.s. capitol police who responded aren't being paid because of the government shutdown. a crisis atmosphere in washington on top of what's already going on there. it's where we begin tonight with our justice correspondent pete williams in our d.c. newsroom. pete, good evening . >> reporter: good evening. this unfolded quickly in a city that's still jumpy from the shooting at the washington navy yard a few weeks ago. tonight investigators say the woman at the center of it all did not have a gun. the only shots were fired by law enforcement officers.

investigators are working to explain why a woman who had been stopped by capitol police suddenly rushed away as police opened fire. [ gunshots ] >> reporter: undeterred by gunfire for reasons officials have yet to understand, she kept on driving, leading a chase in the streets around the u.s. capitol as authorities put the area on lockdown and rushed tourists and others away. officials say the security scare began around 2:15 when a car driven by a woman from connecticut hit a securier barrier at one of the checkpoints that ring the white house. for reasons not clear the woman drove off at a high speed pursued by uniformed officers of the secret service. >> this unauthorized vehicle approached the checkpoint. our officers acted appropriately. the vehicle then fled. in fleeing it struck one of the officers as it departed the initial scene. >> reporter: she drove up pennsylvania avenue, going through red lights, reaching a speed of more than 80 miles an hour, officials say, and heading

-- for some reason -- toward the u.s. capitol. the one area of the city with the heaviest police presence on the streets. capitol police managed to stop the car at the foot of capitol hill, but officials say the driver then backed up and sped away as the officers opened fire. the driver continued speeding on the streets near the capitol. moments later the car crashed outside a senate office building. police again fired shots. >> it was like a series of maybe five or six. then a pause. then a few more. that was it. >> i hear boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom as, you know, the gun fire is unloading. >> reporter: she was later pronounced dead. a capitol policeman was injured when his car hit a barrier in the chaos of the chase. an infant was in the woman's car but was not seriously injured. police are searching a home in connecticut they believe is

connected to the woman. members of the bomb squad are involved as well. investigators are searching her car and interviewing anyone who knew her looking for a motive. tonight several law enforcement and congressional officials say the woman they identify as 34-year-old miriam kerry had a history of mental issues. they are now working to determine why she was in washington and why she headed for the white house in the first place. brian? >> pete williams in our d.c. newsroom tonight with the latest. pete, thanks. nbc's kelly o'donnell who, as our capitol hill correspondent of course has been covering the government shutdown, found herself locked down with everybody else during the height of today's emergency. kelly, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian. the political drama was quickly, abruptly overtaken by this. the capitol dome is off to my left. i am on a balcony of a senate office building. below me is one of the streets where the chase took place. and the lights behind me, that will show you where the car is now in what officials are calling the second crime scene.

this was scary for visitors and for lawmakers, staffers and media this was a workplace emergency. on a summer-like october day, sudden fear. visitors began to flee. >> i heard four or five gunshots. then this whole swarm of police cars, 20, maybe more. >> as soon as you heard those it was -- on. >> reporter: my colleague luke russert. >> i'm watching out the window. tourists are being told to run away. >> reporter: explaining what he saw as it happened. >> i looked out the window. i saw 40 or 50 tourists hit the ground, all laying down. >> police surrounded the vehicles, had their guns drawn, had the passenger door open telling the person to get out. >> reporter: senators who rushed back inside. >> there is an ambulance that's now responded. >> reporter: were witnesses to the chaos. >> you both heard shots? >> we heard pops. three, four, five probably. i don't know if they were shots or not.

>> reporter: a frantic energy took over. an alarm sounded with these ominous words. "report of gunfire." >> there is a report of gunfire on capitol hill. >> these are live pictures. kelly, are you there? >> i am, tamron. we have been given a shelter-in-place order here on capitol hill. we are told we must stay in our offices under lockdown. >> reporter: i snapped a photo of the warning as it flashed on the screens inside the capitol building. the spokesman says there are reports of injured u.s. capitol police officers. working to find out more for you. one officer was injured in a car crash in what police are calling the first crime scene. at the second location visitors saw a face-off. >> they had the passenger door open. their gun was pointed directly in. >> reporter: roughly 40 minutes later, for those of us working inside, the relief of an all-clear. >> senate and house are both re-opened. >> reporter: majority leader harry reid, himself a former

capitol police officer, reopened the senate floor with a message from that injured officer. >> he's hurt. but he said -- i'm paraphrasing, but not much. he said, i work every day to make sure you are safe. >> reporter: in the house, politics briefly on pause. >> i join the majority leader in expressing our gratitude to the capitol police. [ applause ] >> reporter: that was sustained applause certainly. i can tell you both the house and senate will get back to their normal business tomorrow. the investigation goes on. again, one u.s. capitol police officer, one secret service agent also were injured. what we can tell you is there is a return to normal, but, boy, has it been one heck of a day.

brian? >> kelly o'donnell on capitol hill for us tonight. kelly, thanks. as we said, this happened on day three of this federal government shutdown. when this day started there seemed to be no end of it in sight. our chief white house correspondent political director chuck todd is with us from the north lawn at the white house. chuck, not being flip here, but does an incident like this change anything in washington? we just saw the house agree at least on a standing ovation for the capitol police. >> reporter: brian, i wish i could tell you the answer is yes. after the sustained applause. after the moment of silence, within an hour, the house went back to doing what it's been doing. republicans versus democrats on how to fund the government. the house republicans have been doing little bills and they pass the bills, send them to the senate. brian, what i'm holding here -- my in-box is just filling up again. it's the same press releases we have been seeing since the shutdown. we are unfortunately back to the political normal. if there is one bit of good news it is that the tone has changed.

all of these press releases that are criticizing the other for the gamesmanship going on is doing so in a more polite way than the press re-elises before the crisisment beyond that it doesn't seem as if politics has already come back to normal as far as capitol hill i is concerned. >> what passes for diplomacy after a more event ful than usual day these days in washington, d.c. chuck todd from the white house, thanks. we want to show you something here. the following piece of video displays the anger and arguably the hypocrisy of the current situation in washington. this shows congressman randy neugebauer of texas, one of the republicans who favors the shutdown if the president doesn't cut back his health care law. he's confronting a u.s. park ranger at the world war ii memorial as if the shutdown is somehow the fault of the ranger. as you will see it was all too much for another bystander to take. >> i'm sorry. i work for the park service as someone who works at this site.

i'm sorry -- >> people have traveled with their family. how do you look at them and deny them access? i don't get that. >> it's difficult. >> it should be difficult. >> it is difficult. i'm sorry, sir. >> park service should be ashamed of themselves. >> i'm not ashamed. >> you should be. >> this woman is doing her job just like me. i'm a 30-year federal veteran. i'm out of work. >> the reason you are is mr. reid -- >> no. it's because the government won't do its job and pass a budget. >> we are told the man who confronted the congressman and came to the defense of the park ranger is jim o'keefe, a veteran peace corps administrator now on furlough. and millions are feeling the impact of the shutdown. very close to home and across this country including some for whom this standoff feels like a matter of life and death for them.

nbc's tom costello is standing by just outside the campus of the national institutes of health near washington tonight. tom, good evening. >> reporter: hi, brian. the nih conducts some of the most cutting edge research into diseases like cancer. right now much of the research is on hold, the campus largely closed down. people hoping for new clinical drug trials, they have to wait. in california, michelle langben is desperate. waiting for a drug the trial she hopes will save her life. >> every day counts. every second. i have always promised my daughter that i refuse to let her grow up without a mom. i will make that happen no matter what i have to do. >> reporter: the mother of the 18-month-old has been told her rare sarcoma could be terminal. with the shutdown, any new trials are on hold. >> i'd like to let congress know that this decision needs to be made quickly. we don't have the time to wait. >> reporter: the nih funds re search nationwide. a lack of funding at the headquarters means 200 patients,

including 30 children, each week will be turned away from clinical studies. though if a patient is in a trial already their care will continue. furloughed, nearly 14,000 including scientists looking for medical breakthroughs. >> for every day we are unable to provide potentially life-saving new treatments to people with cancer, there is going to be an impact on health and there's going to be people who might die. >> reporter: most of the operations at the cdc in atlanta are shut down. 9,000 staffers pr furloughed. no monitoring for infectious disease outbreaks, reduced critical lab work, no one watching the seasonal flu. across the country, waiting on washington. >> this clinical trial may give me hope that i can see my daughter grow up. that is so important to me . >> reporter: more than 1400 clinical trials are under way here involving patients. those trials will continue. but no new clinical trials and most research on hold. brian? >> tom costello outside nih, bethesda, maryland, with another part of the story. tom, thanks.

still ahead for us tonight on a thursday evening, a state of emergency in louisiana, and hurricane watches along the gulf coast as a storm gathers. it's time now to start paying attention to hurricane season. later the motorcycle chase and the terrified family inside the range rover. more of the story behind the video from this incident in new york. behind the video from this incident in new york. [ male announcer ] this is claira. to prove to you that aleve is the better choice for her, she's agreed to give it up. that's today? [ male announcer ] we'll be with her all day to see how it goes. [ claira ] after the deliveries, i was okay. now the ciabatta is done and the pain is starting again. more pills? seriously? seriously. [ groans ] all these stops to take more pills can be a pain. can i get my aleve back? ♪ for my pain, i want my aleve. [ male announcer ] look for the easy-open red arthritis cap. then i read an article about a study that looked at the long term health benefits of taking multivitamins. they used centrum silver for the study...

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quiet, hurricane season that is starting to change somewhat, effective right now. along the gulf coast they are bracing for a hit from tropical storm karen. tonight fema is recalling some of their furloughed employees in the middle of the government stoppage to prepare for this. meanwhile out west it's starting to look a lot like an early winter. meteorologist bryan norcross tracking both storms tonight from weather channel headquarters. none of us who were hit by sandy is complaining but last night i was reading an article wondering what happened to this year's hurricane season. >> that's a really good question, brian. we don't know for sure. there doesn't seem to be a magic bullet to answer the question. a lot of research will be required to understand that completely and see if it is a change back to maybe fewer storms. we don't know. right now hurricane hunters are out looking at karen. it's ugly looking. we have a core right in there of strong thunderstorms and 65

miles an hour winds.ed to the north up toward the gulf coast. could get to hurricane strength. that's why hurricane watches are in effect for the gulf coast. starting the weekend but can't guarantee it won't still be a hurricane when it gets up there somewhere on the gulf coast, likely on saturday. then it dies out over the southeast as a big rainstorm. here is the deal. in the center of the gulf coast here from louisiana on over to the florida panhandle, hurricane watches, hurricane conditions possible this weekend in that area. in louisiana, we have down in grand isle a voluntary evacuation. and tropical storm warnings, meaning tropical storm conditions there are likely for the new orleans area. just the possibility of tropical storm conditions right now. we also have this mega winter storm going on out there in wyoming where we could get a foot and a half of snow. and two feet around rapid city, the snow is already coming down

out there. then to the east of that, severe weather possible up here to the south of minneapolis in iowa, maybe even tornadoes. back to you, brian. >> all right. weather channel headquarters with a look at all of it tonight. thanks. we'll take another break. when we come back, the terrified wife and mother inside that range rover. what she was thinking as bikers swarmed and then some attacked. help the gulf recover and learn from what happened so we could be a better, safer energy company. i can tell you - safety is at the heart of everything we do. we've added cutting-edge technology, like a new deepwater well cap and a state-of-the-art monitoring center, where experts watch over all drilling activity twenty-four-seven. and we're sharing what we've learned, so we can all produce energy more safely. our commitment has never been stronger. this is a map of the pressure points on my feet. i have flat feet. i learned where the stress was at the dr.scholl's foot mapping center. then i got my number, which matched the custom fit orthotic inserts with the right support. find your closest foot mapping center at drscholls.com.

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there is other news tonight. sadly it includes a tragedy on the high seas as an unstable vessel packed with african citizens seeking a better life capsized and sank on the way from libya to an island off italy. at least 114 people are dead including many women and children. about 150 people were rescued. but the italian coast guard is searching for more than 200 who are still missing in the open waters tonight. for the first time this evening we are learning what it was like for the family inside the range rover targeted by a swarm of

bikers here in new york. the video of the violent chase has received wide circulation this week. we get an update tonight from nbc's stephanie gosk. >> reporter: the video of alexian lein's black suv racing up the west side of manhattan vividly captured dozens of bike riders pursuing the car. what can only be imagined is the family's reaction inside. sources at the nypd tell nbc news lein's wife was clearly scared. she called 911 four times. first at 1:52 p.m. she told the operator, quote, we are surrounded by a group of bikers. police arrived at 2:00 p.m. by then lein had been pulled from the car and beaten. she said her family was in grave danger. while expressing sympathy for the biker hit by the suv she defended her husband. we were faced with a life threatening situation. my husband was forced under the circumstances to take the

actions that he did. newly posted vided owe appeared to show trouble brewing in the hours leading up to the confrontation. bikers jumped curbs, ran red lights, and popped wheelies on the wrong side of the road. today lawmakers called for a crackdown. >> they really have a total disregard for the safety of residents and pedestrians as well as other drivers. >> reporter: victor rodriguez worries all motorcyclists are being tarred by the same brush. >> not everybody who rides a bike is out there to, you know, ride for wrong, to do anything bad. >> reporter: but the guys that are? >> the guys that are have to grow up, man up, whatever you call it. >> reporter: still vigorously investigating police hope to send the same message. stephanie gosk, nbc news, new york. when we come back, some of the americans we have been hearing from who are right about now wondering what happened to their country. dentures are very different to real teeth.

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against the already dim backdrop of the government shutdown and the open partisan warfare we saw that frightening scene unfold today at the capitol. all of it feeding into americans' general growing uneasy ness of what's happening in this country where they are supposed to be running things. at times it seems things are coming apart a bit. some thoughts on this tonight from nbc's harry smith. >> reporter: chaos. a woman tries to ram her car through the white house gates. a chase ensues on d.c. streets. neither her motive nor her state of mind seem important because we are transfixed by pictures of a capitol paralyzed. it feels like a metaphor. there is a standoff in washington these days. patience has worn thin. >> why are we letting this happen? >> do your work. >> reporter: emotions are raw. >> wake up, guys. we don't like you. >> reporter: most of the people we spoke with have had it. >> dear congress, i would like for you to go without pay for one month. >> stop acting in your own self-interest. get your act together.

do what's right for the country. >> i hope to god in next year's election all of you are booted out. >> obama care is not a justifiable reason to shut down the country. >> reporter: we asked you to share your thoughts on twitter, too. dear congress, i can assure you that i will not be checking "incumbent" next time i go to the polls. you have failed us. stop blaming each other like peevish children. start acting like responsible adults and work together. i'm embarrassed to be an american today. stop hurting the people that voted for you. >> i definitely blame the republicans. >> i blame this completely on the democrats. >> reporter: blame and indignation fuelled an angry fire. this doesn't feel like the america we are most proud of. we are weary of the conflict. while which side prevails is important, we wonder why it has come to this. harry smith, nbc news. that is our broadcast on this thursday night. thanks for being with us. i'm brian williams. we of course hope to see you right back here tomorrow evening. right back here tomorrow evening. good night.

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