Capitol in lockdown after gunfire
The U.S. Capitol was locked down Thursday after gunshots were fired while lawmakers were inside debating the federal budget, according to The Associated Press.
The female suspect was shot and killed by police after being chased by the Secret Service, NBC reported.
A woman in a black car attempted to drive through a barricade outside of the White House and then led police on a chase that ended with gunfire at the Capitol.
According to witnesses, around 20 police cars chased the car to Capitol Hill, where it crashed.
The driver was taken into custody, and the child that was in the car was taken to a nearby hospital. The driver’s condition has not been disclosed.
A police officer was injured in the car accident, but the injuries are reportedly not life threatening.
South Carolina employees furloughed after shutdown
After the federal government came to a halt Tuesday at midnight, thousands of federal government employees did not return to work the next morning, including 40 at the U.S. Attorney office in South Carolina, The State reported.
“About 35 percent of our workforce has been furloughed,” U.S. Attorney for South Carolina Bill Nettles said.
According to Nettles, the majority of the furloughs thus far have been administrative and support staff. Some civil case lawyers have also been furloughed.
Nettles also said that even though most federal prosecutors are working criminal cases, it is likely that they will feel the effects of the shutdown should it continue.
“People should not believe that two days into the shutdown, they have seen the full effects of a prolonged shutdown,” he said. “The longer this continues, the more acute and crippling this is going to be.”
Repeat DUI offender to serve 17 years in prison
A Lexington County man pleaded guilty to felony drunken driving charges in the killing of a state transportation department maintenance worker on Interstate 20 last December.
Judge Robert Hood sentenced 39-year-old Thomas Lee Stafford to 17 years in prison, The State reported.
Stafford was also charged with leaving the scene of a fatal accident.
The victim, 21-year-old Nicholas Johnson, was part of a road crew when Stafford struck and killed him on Dec. 3.
According to State Law Enforcement Division and Lexington County Sherrif’s Department records, Stafford has two former DUI charges.
Stafford was arrested by Pine Ridege Police Department for his second DUI charge only two weeks before the Dec. 3 accident; his first charge is from 2008.