Stamford Woman Shot Following Police Chase in Washington D.C.

A woman—identified as 34-year-old dental hygienist Miriam Carey of Stamford— was shot dead yesterday afternoon in Washington D.C. after leading police on a chase around the capitol.

The incident began when Carey rammed her car into a barricade around the White House, then led Capitol Police and Secret Service agents on a chase that injured one officer when she ran into him. Georgetown Patch reports the officer sustained non-life-threatening injuries.

The car chase ended at about 2:20 p.m. outside the U.S. Capitol when police fatally shot the Connecticut woman. The incident prompted a lockdown of the U.S. Capitol for about two hours. 

Carey's mother was at a loss to explain why her daughter would do such a thing but she told ABC News that Carey had been suffering from post-partum depression following the birth of her daughter a year ago. Carey's child with her in the vehicle yesterday but was not seriously injured. 

Law enforcement officers, including federal agents, descended on Carey's home at Woodside Green Co-op Complex in Stamford at about 5:30 p.m. yesterday, Darien Patch reports, and remained on the scene until about 7:30 a.m. today. They took a variety of items as evidence from the home.  

Following the lockdown at Capitol Hill, U.S. Rep. Elizabeth Esty, D-5, took to her Facebook page to let folks know she was safe. She wrote: "Lockdown has been lifted. Staff and I are safe. Thank you Capitol Police for all you do to keep us safe today and every day."

Rosa DeLauro, D-3, tweeted: "Thanks to all the great Capitol Police officers keeping us us safe."

(Those officers, by the way, were working without pay because they have been furloughed since the government shutdown on Monday.)