Erika Norton | Echo
The female driver has been identified as Miriam Carey, a 34-year-old dental hygienist from Stamford, Conn. according to the New York Times.
Carey held the delusional belief that President Barack Obama was communicating with her, according to a federal law enforcement official who talked to the Associated Press. Therefore, Carey is believed to have traveled directly to Washington, the official said.
The motive behind her reckless driving which caused the car chase and crash is being investigated.
Carey's 1-year-old daughter was in the car, though she taken into protective custody unharmed.
Carey's mother, Idella Carey, told ABC News Thursday night that Miriam began suffering from postpartum depression after giving birth to her daughter, Erica, in August 2012.
"A few months later, she got sick," Idella Carey said to ABC News. "She was depressed. … She was hospitalized."
After a search of her apartment, officials said nothing hazardous was found, but CNN reported that medications for schizophrenia and bipolar disorder were found.
According to Xavier Amador, a psychologist and expert in schizophrenia and other mental health disorders who spoke to CNN, it is possible the medications were prescribed for postpartum psychosis, a rare illness that usually comes on suddenly within the first four weeks after birth.
Carey worked as a dental hygienist in Hamden, Conn. until August 2012, according to NBC Connecticut. Dr. Barry Weiss, her former boss, described her as "hot-tempered" but said "nothing in her behavior would have led us to think this would have happened." Carey's dental hygienist license expired Thursday.
The police officer injured during the car chase has been released from the hospital in stable condition, according to CNN.
Original story
Police chased a car from the White House to the Capitol this afternoon after the driver tried to ram the barricade at the White House, according to Angela Stuedemann, a Taylor alumna and administrative intern for Sen. Chuck Grassley.After the driver crashed near the Capitol, gunshot erupted, Stuedemann said. The female driver of the car from Connecticut has been confirmed dead. Investigators are questioning her mental health.
Stuedemann also said the suspect allegedly had no weapon. According to police, the chase ended at 2nd and Maryland and an uninjured child was removed from the car.
A police officer was injured in a crash, police confirmed, at 1st and Constitution Avenue.
The gunfire resulted in a shutdown of the Capitol, which has since been lifted. Both the Senate and House of Representatives were in session when the shots were fired, and both were suspended for about an hour, according to Stuedemann.
Washington police said there is no indication that the incident was related to terrorism. Stuedemann was in the House chamber at the time of the gunfire.
"I looked outside the building and saw everyone piled outside the street," Stuedemann said. "I did not hear anything but there was a debate going on in the house chamber and then they suddenly stopped the debate. When I went to leave to go back to my office building they told me what was going on."
There has been speculation that these events are tied to the recent government shutdown in Washington. Stuedemann believes they could be linked.
"They're still investigating what the motive behind it was," Stuedemann said. "I would imagine so, but that's just a personal guess. I would assume that this was some sort of protest against the government."
Stuedemann doesn't believe these events will affect government operations too much tomorrow.
"I imagine there will be heightened security here, but as far as the operation of the Senate and House I don't think it'll affect anything," Stuedemann said.
