Police say a man killed himself after ramming a barrier at the U.S. Capitol on Sunday
The man authorities identified, Richard A. York III, had addresses in both Delaware and Pennsylvania and faced a string of legal cases in Pennsylvania dating back to 2011.
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WASHINGTON — A man drove his car into a barricade near the U.S. Capitol early Sunday and then began firing gunshots in the air before fatally shooting himself, according to police, who said he did not seem to be targeting any member of Congress.
The incident happened just before 4 a.m. at a vehicle barricade set at East Capitol Street NE and 2nd Street SE in Washington.
It comes at a time when law enforcement authorities across the country are facing an increasing number of threats and federal officials have warned about the potential of violent attacks on government buildings in the days since the FBI’s search of former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.
Authorities said the man, identified as Richard A. York III, 29, of Delaware, crashed into the barricade and that as he was getting out of the car, the vehicle became engulfed in flames. The man then opened fire, firing several shots into the air as police approached.
Capitol Police said the man shot himself as the officers neared. He was later pronounced dead.
York, who had addresses in both Delaware and Pennsylvania, faced a string of legal cases in Pennsylvania dating back to 2011, according to court records. In 2012, he was charged with terroristic threats and simple assault, accused of assaulting his pregnant girlfriend, ripping out chunks of her hair, and choking her, according to an article in The Morning Call at the time.
York was arrested again in 2020, according to Lehigh Valley Live, and charged with assaulting a coworker, whom police found in the woods bruised and wearing only a thin shirt and shorts in below-40 weather. The man said he had been working on a roofing project with York in Philadelphia earlier in the day. York accused the man of contacting his mother and began beating him, according to the article. Attempts by The Inquirer to reach York’s family and neighbors in Pennsylvania were unsuccessful.
Staff writer Zoe Greenberg contributed to this article.