Lincoln East High School's home of Spartan news

The Oracle

Lincoln East High School's home of Spartan news

The Oracle

Lincoln East High School's home of Spartan news

The Oracle

Capitol Crisis

Capitol Crisis

The U.S. Capitol building went into lockdown on Monday March 28 following an incident with a Tennessee man in the visitor center.  As the man went through security at the Capitol Visitor Center the metal detectors went off and he subsequently pulled out what appeared to be a weapon.  Capitol Police officers then shot the man, who was then taken to a hospital and is now in stable condition.  A woman was also “minorly” injured by shrapnel and was also hospitalized but no Capitol Police officers were injured in the incident.  

The Capitol then went into lockdown for about an hour after which the Capitol was “open for official business only”, meaning the visitor center remained closed. Fortunately most Congress members were not at the Capitol Monday.  The White House also briefly closed its fence lines as a precautionary measure.  

The man, Larry Dawson, had a history of causing problems in Congress, yelling “I’m a prophet of God!” from the balcony of the House of Representatives in October of 2015, which led to his arrest.  

The Capitol is now back to business as usual, and the visitor center is filling up with people eager to get a glimpse of the building where our lawmakers do their thing.