Police apprehend man claiming to have bomb near U.S. Capitol

A man who claimed to have a bomb in a pickup truck near the U.S. Capitol was taken into custody by police on Thursday after a five-hour standoff that prompted an evacuation of nearby buildings and paralyzed 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.

A U.S. Capitol Police officer mans a police barricade as police investigated a bomb threat near the U.S. Capitol in Washington, U.S., August 19, 2021. REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz

Capitol Police Chief J. Thomas Manger told reporters that the man parked his vehicle on a sidewalk outside the U.S. Library of Congress at about 9:15 a.m. EDT (1315 GMT) and told an officer who approached him that he had a bomb while holding what appeared to be a detonator.

Police did not know the man’s motive, he said.