Suspect surrenders following ‘active bomb threat’ near Library of Congress

At around 2:20 p.m., the suspect was seen exiting the vehicle, getting on the ground, and surrendering himself to law enforcement, according to footage captured from the incident.

Officers were “responding to a suspicious vehicle near the Library of Congress,” U.S. Capitol Police said Thursday morning, evacuating the Cannon House Office Building. Congress is currently out of session. The FBI and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives also responded to the scene. Authorities told nearby residents to evacuate before the situation was clear.

“Please continue to avoid the area around the Library of Congress,” police said on Twitter.

During an afternoon press conference, Capitol Police Chief Thomas Manger confirmed a man in a black pickup truck drove on the sidewalk in front of the Library of Congress around 9:15 a.m. local time. The driver of the truck told the responding officer “he had a bomb and what the officer said appeared to be a detonator,” Manger said, adding that they were aware of reports of a person livestreaming the incident.

Law enforcement named the suspect as Floyd Ray Roseberry, from Grover, North Carolina. A Facebook user by the name of Ray Roseberry uploaded a video to the site Thursday that appeared to be broadcast from inside the truck outside the complex. Facebook has since deleted the user’s account.

“I’ve called 9-1-1 and told them to come out here and clear this f***ing place out, they need to clear it out,” he is heard saying in the video. “Cause I got a bomb in here! I don’t want nobody hurt.”

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Police sent negotiators to engage with Roseberry.

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Capitol Police shut down roads to the complex, informing people to avoid the area. The Supreme Court was also evacuated.

Congressional staffers were warned about the threat, with staff inside the Jefferson building told to “remain calm and move in a safe manner to the exits,” according to alerts obtained by Forbes.

Staff in the Madison Building were initially alerted to “a security threat inside the building,” but a correction was made to denote the possible vehicular bomb threat. People inside were later told to evacuate.

Several lawmakers took to social media to inform the public that they were safe as police continued negotiation efforts.

“As this situation unfolds, I pray the heroes responding to the scene are safe from any danger,” Republican Florida Rep. Byron Donalds tweeted.

Democratic Florida Rep. Val Demings posted to Twitter that she was “monitoring the situation near the Capitol Complex,” adding that her staff members were safe from the threat.

The Capitol South metro station has been closed, according to the Washington Metro, which noted that orange, silver, and blue line commuters along the path “should use alternate travel options.”

Minnesota Rep. Dean Phillips signaled gratitude toward those concerned about his staff near the Library of Congress, saying, “Everyone is safe,” adding in his statement that “once again, America is forced to confront the growing risk posed by domestic terrorists.”

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The threat outside the library complex on Thursday came just months after authorities discovered pipe bombs planted outside the Republican and Democratic national headquarters in Washington at the same time thousands of former President Donald Trump’s supporters trespassed onto Capitol Hill in a riot.