WASHINGTON — The United States Capitol Police on Thursday investigated a “suspicious vehicle” outside the Library of Congress and told people to avoid the area.
In warnings to Capitol Hill employees, police urged some people to enter, lock doors and stay away from windows, and ordered others to evacuate to designated assembly points.
According to a congressional official, police were investigating possible explosives in a vehicle near the Library of Congress.
A spokeswoman, Alaina Gertz, said the Metropolitan Police Department has “assisted in reporting an active bomb threat involving a suspicious vehicle” and is “currently evacuating the area.”
The Capitol Police declined to provide details about the investigation and referred questions to the agency’s Twitter account, which urged people to stay away from the area.
While the police were investigating, they closed several nearby streets around the 100 block of First Street SE. Shortly before 11 a.m., dozens of people poured out of the Madison building after being told to leave the building by officers inside.
“Everyone is going south now,” a Capitol police officer said as other officers led construction workers away from work on the road and asked diners outside a cafe to vacate their tables.
Eventually, much of the crowd, some with laptops and tangled hands full of charging cords and headphones, ended up in a park near the building, calling relatives and figuring out how to get home.
The threat stunned visitors and Capitol staff eight months after a mob of Trump supporters stormed the hill on Jan. 6 in a violent attempt to prevent Congress from certifying the results of the presidential election.
Glenn Thrush and Nicholas Fandos reporting contributed.
