US Capitol reopens after shooting

The US Capitol complex reopened amid visibly higher security a day after police say officers shot and wounded a man who pulled a weapon at a security checkpoint as he entered the underground Capitol Visitor Centre.

Capitol Police identified the man as 66-year-old Larry R Dawson of Tennessee. He was charged with assault with a deadly weapon and assault on a police officer while armed.

Dawson was taken to a local hospital and underwent surgery. Police said he was in stable but critical condition late on Monday.

Dawson disrupted a House of Representatives session last October by shouting that he was a “Prophet of God”.

He was issued a “stay away order” by the District of Columbia Superior Court that same month that required him to avoid the Capitol grounds, court documents show.

The incident, in which a bystander was slightly injured, occurred at the tourists’ entry point to a building that had heightened security even before the terrorist attacks of September 11 2001, and has had periodic scares ever since.

Capitol Police chief Matthew R Verderosa held a brief news conference at which he preliminarily ruled out terrorism.

“We do believe this is an act of a single person who has frequented the Capitol grounds before and there is no reason to believe that this is anything more than a criminal act,” he said.

There appeared to be more police officers than usual at some posts outside the buildings as the Capitol and its surrounding buildings resumed business.

Even so, the reopening was marred as police investigated a pair of suspicious packages.

By mid-morning, the Capitol Police had cleared one package at the Capitol’s East Front and were investigating another at the Library of Congress Jefferson Building.

That resulted in some road closures, and police were not letting additional people into the Capitol Visitor Centre.