--- description: A man committed suicide at the U.S. Capitol building title: Lockdown Lifted After Man Fatally Shoots Himself at U.S. Capitol image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Lockdown Lifted After Man Fatally Shoots Himself at U.S. Capitol by [Alex Rogers](/author/alex-rogers/) ## Alex Rogers Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Updated: Dec 15, 2023 4:19 AM CUTPublished: Apr 11, 2015 6:34 PM CUT by [Alex Rogers](/author/alex-rogers/) ## Alex Rogers Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Updated: Dec 15, 2023 4:19 AM CUTPublished: Apr 11, 2015 6:34 PM CUT A man fatally shot himself at the U.S. Capitol Saturday, prompting an hours-long lockdown that was lifted by late afternoon, according to reports. The man had a backpack and a rolling suitcase with him, along with a sign referencing “social justice,” when he killed himself at about 1 p.m., the [Associated Press](http://bigstory.ap.org/article/39698cf5fbe44bf2a0a4038a52d681f7/police-report-shots-fired-west-front-us-capitol "undefined"). No one else was believed to be harmed, though dozens of people were nearby and some witnessed the suicide, the AP reports. The Capitol Police locked down the building after the incident, barring staff and visitors from entering or exiting due to a “potential security threat,” said Lt. Kimberly Schneider, a Capitol Police spokeswoman. Police were also investigating a suspicious package, she added. The building reopened later in the day. Lawmakers are expected to return to the Capitol on Monday after Congress’ two-week recess. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3818611/us-capitol-building/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3818611/us-capitol-building/"},"headline":"Lockdown Lifted After Man Fatally Shoots Himself at U.S. Capitol","datePublished":"2015-04-11T18:34:37.000Z","dateModified":"2023-12-15T04:19:53.000Z","description":"He was carrying a sign that referenced \"social justice\"","url":"https://time.com/3818611/us-capitol-building/","keywords":["Crime"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alex Rogers","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/alex-rogers/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3818611/us-capitol-building/","name":"Lockdown Lifted After Man Fatally Shoots Himself at U.S. Capitol"}}]}] ```