Gunfire At U.S. Capitol

Gunfire broke out at mid-afternoon at the U.S. Capitol's Visitor Center as a man, identified as Larry Dawson from Tennessee, set off a magnetometer at the Center and then drew a weapon (it later turned out to be a pellet gun). Dawson was hit by gunfire from the U.S. Capitol Police and taken to the Washington Hospital Center. It's not known whether his wounds are life-threatening.

Dawson is apparently known to the police from an incident the House of Representatives last fall, when he disrupted proceedings there saying that he was a "prophet of God." Again, we have an example of an unbalanced person walking around with a weapon, likely obtained legally, causing mayhem and potentially death for innocent bystanders. Fortunately, in this instance, only the shooter was seriously injured.