Police apprehend man claiming to have bomb near U.S. Capitol (updated)

By Julio-Cesar Chavez and Sarah N. Lynch

A man who claimed to have a bomb in a pickup truck near the U.S. Capitol was taken into custody by police on Thursday after a five-hour standoff that prompted an evacuation of nearby buildings and paralyzed a section of Washington for much of the day.

“He stepped out and they got him. We have one in custody,” a police officer told Reuters.

Capitol Police Chief J. Thomas Manger told reporters that the man parked his vehicle on a sidewalk outside the U.S. Library of Congress at about 9:15 a.m. EDT (1315 GMT) and told an officer who approached him that he had a bomb while holding what appeared to be a detonator.

Police did not know the man’s motive, he said.