WASHINGTON - A dramatic car chase through the streets of Washington from near the WhiteHouse to the U.S. Capitol ended in gunfire on Thursday when law enforcement officers shot and killed the driver as lawmakers and aides huddled in a lockdown.

The identity of the driver - a woman - was not released.?

"The?suspect?in?the?vehicle?was?struckby?gunfire?and?at?this?point?has?been?pronounced?(dead),"?Washington's?police?chief,?CathyLanier,?told?reporters.Driving a black car, the 34-year-old woman rammed security barricades "at the very outerperimeter of the White House," U.S. Secret Service spokesman Ed Donovan said. Then the car,carrying a 1-year-old girl, raced up Pennsylvania Avenue toward the Capitol where Congresswas in session.

Police gave chase and fired at the car. It finally came to a halt near the Capitol building, saidCapitol Police Chief Kim Dine.

"My understanding is there was a 1-year-old child in the car," Dine said. "I believe one of ourofficers rescued the child," who was taken to a hospital.

The incident rattled Washington just three weeks after a government contractor opened fire atthe Washington Navy Yard, about 1.5 miles (2.4 km) from the Capitol, killing 12 people andwounding three others before he was shot to death by police.

Michael McCaul, the chairman of the House of Representatives Homeland Security Committee,told CNN that officials believe the woman driving the car in Thursday's incident may have hadmental health problems.

"I got that from multiple sources - that they think she may have had some mental health issues,"he said. "Obviously the way she responded at the gate near the White House and then turningaround and hitting Secret Service."

The woman was a resident of Connecticut and the girl in the car was her daughter, McCaulsaid.

When the shooting erupted, lawmakers were trying to find a solution to a budget impasse thatpartially shut down the U.S. government this week. The Capitol was locked down for about anhour during the incident.

Lawmakers were told to shelter in place on the floor of the House. Outside, some tourists werefrightened.

"I was just eating a hot dog over here and I heard about four or five gunshots, and then aswarm of police cars came in wailing their sirens," said Whit Dabney, 13, who was visitingWashington from Louisville, Kentucky, and heard the shots a couple of blocks away.

Witness Travis Gilbert said several police cars chased the black sedan at high speed toward the Capitol.

"They ran all the red lights. It was a very dangerous situation," Gilbert said.

Hit by car

Two officers were hurt in Thursday's incident. One was a Secret Service officer who was struckby the suspect's car outside the White House, Donovan said.

The other was a Capitol Police officer whose car struck a barricade during the mid-afternoonchase. It ranged over about a mile and a half and lasted just a few minutes, officials said.

All the shooting appears to have been done by police; law enforcement sources said thesuspect did not shoot a gun and there is no indication that she had one.

Dine said it appeared there was no connection to terrorism.

Just before the Capitol lockdown, Senator John McCain of Arizona was on the Senate floorurging that President Barack Obama and a bipartisan group of senators launch negotiations to break the deadlock over government funding and a debt limit increase.

The House had just passed a bill to fund the National Guard and reservists who are not onactive duty during the shutdown.

The Capitol police, who were deemed "essential" staff, were at work despite the governmentshutdown, but they are not being paid.

"What really comes home to me is that these are all people who are working without pay rightnow," Representative Matt Cartwright, a Democrat from Pennsylvania, said on CNN. He wasoutside on a Capitol balcony when he said he heard seven or eight shots "all in less than asecond."

Obama was briefed on the incident, a White House official said, providing no further details.

Security is tight near the Capitol, but there have been previous shootings in the area. In 1998,a gunman burst through a security checkpoint at the Capitol and killed two Capitol Policeofficers in an exchange of fire that sent tourists and other bystanders ping for cover. Thesuspect, Russell Eugene Weston Jr., was not charged with a crime because of apparent mentalinstability.

【新聞快訊】

北京時間10月4日凌晨消息，一個戲劇性的汽車追逐穿過華盛頓的街道從白宮附近，當(dāng)執(zhí)法人員殺死了司機和助手，議員們擠在一個全面封鎖的國會大廈里。

報道稱，美國國會警察向在國會大廈工作的人員發(fā)布警告，要求他們待在辦公室內(nèi)并鎖緊門。大廈內(nèi)的廣播說，“有報告稱國會山有槍擊。請躲避好?！?/p>

報道稱，有警察在大廈外集結(jié)。當(dāng)時在國會山南側(cè)露臺的弗吉尼亞州民主黨眾議員蓋瑞-康諾里表示，他聽到連續(xù)快速的七到八聲槍響。警察隨后從國會山的西側(cè)正門疏散游客，國會和高等法院的辦公室被要求暫時封閉。

眾議院少數(shù)黨領(lǐng)袖南希-佩羅西通過推特消息稱，“所有議員和工作人員，我們已經(jīng)處于暫時的封鎖狀態(tài)，國會警察將很快控制這個區(qū)域。請注意安全?！?/p>

后續(xù)報道稱，一名帶著小孩的女性駕駛她的車撞擊靠近白宮的一個保安崗?fù)?，之后向國會山方向逃離。警方在之后的追逐戰(zhàn)中開槍，開槍的地點就在國會大廈附近。

來自警方的消息來源說，有一名警官因為車輛的撞擊受傷，還有一名女性嚴重受傷。MedStar華盛頓特區(qū)醫(yī)療中心證實在周四下午收治了兩個病人，其中一人是國會山警察，但是醫(yī)院沒有透露傷者的更多情況。

初步報告顯示，肇事的女性并沒有向警方開槍，警方在判斷她試圖使用車輛作為武器進行攻擊之后向她開火還擊。國會警察總長吉姆·迪恩表示，警方認為這是一起獨立事件，“沒有信息顯示事件和恐怖主義有關(guān)?！?/p>

根據(jù)警方人員的說明，事件從15街與賓夕法尼亞大道西北向接近白宮的交匯處開始，有車輛撞擊防止車輛接近白宮的崗?fù)?，這輛車迅速逃逸，警方隨即展開追擊。

54歲的里賈納-羅梅羅說，她當(dāng)時正在國會大廈外拍照，聽到了10到12聲槍響。她說，看到警察追逐一輛黑色的車，然后是很響的爆炸聲，“好象是炸彈”。她回憶說，整個事件持續(xù)了大約三分鐘，她并不清楚那聲巨響是車輛撞擊的聲音還是爆炸聲。

來自新西蘭的26歲游客馬修·雅各布斯說，他看到一輛黑色的車“試圖沖過白宮的路障”，撞到了一個人。他描述說，“警察開始集結(jié)并且追擊。”他也補充說，被車撞到路障下方的那個人看起來傷得并不重。

一名白宮官員說，奧巴馬總統(tǒng)已經(jīng)聽取了事件的匯報；白宮方面正與警方保持密切聯(lián)系以關(guān)注事態(tài)發(fā)展。

美國國會共和黨和民主黨目前在預(yù)算問題上形成了僵局，導(dǎo)致了聯(lián)邦政府17年以來的首次部分關(guān)門，有超過80萬聯(lián)邦機構(gòu)雇員被迫接受無薪休假，兩黨還在是否提高政府的借債上限問題上繼續(xù)展開辯論。