After a suspicious vehicle parked near the U.S. capitol was discovered to contain a pressure cooker, police detonated the bomb before anyone could be injured.
According to CBS, a statement from Police Lieutenant Kimberly A. Schneider said officers for the Capitol saw an unoccupied vehicle at the National mom around 5 pm on Sunday. Schneider said, “Further investigation revealed a pressure cooker, and an odor of gasoline was detected.”
The bomb squad was sent to investigate since the vehicle was found to be “suspicious in nature.” They successfully destroyed items in the vehicle that were deemed to be cause for alarm, as well as the pressure cooker.
After closing off the area where the car was located, the items were destroyed before 8 pm and the only sound to be heard was “a loud bang.”
The Associated Press reported that after the authorities safely destroyed the pressure cooker, police searched the vehicle and found “nothing hazardous.”
The owner of the vehicle, Israel Shimeles, was located and given a charge of “Operating After Revocation.”
Capitol Police were investigating with the help of the Metropolitan Police, the U.S. Secret Service, the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force, and the U.S. Park Police.