Eeeks!
So this morning, I got an email this morning from a friend who works on the Hill with the subject line, "in case you've heard..." and with the body message saying that everything's okay and not to be alarmed...
Alarmed? About what?
I then proceeded to read in the message that gunshots had been heard in the Rayburn House Office Building this morning and that the whole place had been put on lock-down. Like an episode of West Wing or something. And I have since read the WaPo article about it.
We've been trading email ever since -- because he's stuck. Rayburn is still on lock-down, the police have gone through checked all the offices in the building and rumor had it that that someone was holed up in the House gym (in Rayburn).
Eeek.
Now, this is all conjecture and rumor, but this is what he's hearing.
Anyone who has been to any of the Congressional office buildings knows that there is plenty o' security. Just ask Cynthia McKinney... (but I digress). And those security measures involve metal detectors. So if there is actually a gun inside the Rayburn building (and I am not saying that there is), then how did it get there? Deliveries are screened; visitors are too. The only folks who aren't subject to the metal detectors (as far as I know) are those who come in through the garage -- where you have to show Congressional ID -- and members of Congress (just ask Cynthia McKinney... did I just go there?).
There are no votes today, so most members are gone -- and let's face it, what are the chances that it's a member? None to zero (c.f., this, however).
So, if in fact there were gunshots and if in fact they did not come from the practice firing range in Rayburn (whoa! there's a practice firing range in Rayburn??? yup -- and yikes) -- then does that mean a Hill staffer or a friend of one brought a gun into the building?
I guess we'll find out.
Like I said before, however, conjecture and rumor. And let's hope it was just a car backfiring, too.
UPDATE (3:18) -- I wasn't too far off. Law enforcement concluded that the sound thought to be a gunshot was likely made by a mechanic using a pneumatic hammer on an elevator. D'oh. Rayburn just opened. And my friend can now get lunch.
Alarmed? About what?
I then proceeded to read in the message that gunshots had been heard in the Rayburn House Office Building this morning and that the whole place had been put on lock-down. Like an episode of West Wing or something. And I have since read the WaPo article about it.
We've been trading email ever since -- because he's stuck. Rayburn is still on lock-down, the police have gone through checked all the offices in the building and rumor had it that that someone was holed up in the House gym (in Rayburn).
Eeek.
Now, this is all conjecture and rumor, but this is what he's hearing.
Anyone who has been to any of the Congressional office buildings knows that there is plenty o' security. Just ask Cynthia McKinney... (but I digress). And those security measures involve metal detectors. So if there is actually a gun inside the Rayburn building (and I am not saying that there is), then how did it get there? Deliveries are screened; visitors are too. The only folks who aren't subject to the metal detectors (as far as I know) are those who come in through the garage -- where you have to show Congressional ID -- and members of Congress (just ask Cynthia McKinney... did I just go there?).
There are no votes today, so most members are gone -- and let's face it, what are the chances that it's a member? None to zero (c.f., this, however).
So, if in fact there were gunshots and if in fact they did not come from the practice firing range in Rayburn (whoa! there's a practice firing range in Rayburn??? yup -- and yikes) -- then does that mean a Hill staffer or a friend of one brought a gun into the building?
I guess we'll find out.
Like I said before, however, conjecture and rumor. And let's hope it was just a car backfiring, too.
UPDATE (3:18) -- I wasn't too far off. Law enforcement concluded that the sound thought to be a gunshot was likely made by a mechanic using a pneumatic hammer on an elevator. D'oh. Rayburn just opened. And my friend can now get lunch.
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