Chris Smith and Staff Fine in D.C. Office; Lockdown Over

Rep. Chris Smith (R-4) and his staff are fine in their Washington D.C. office, where they were "sheltered in place" during a lock down of about half an hour. 

Like other federal lawmakers at the Capitol or in nearby buildings, Smith's office was told to lock their doors, with no one going in or out, for about half an hour on Thursday afternoon as Capitol police investigated a report of shots fired, said Jeff Sagnip, a spokesman for Smith.

An officer at the scene was injured in a car crash, but not by any shots fired, according to a story on cnn.com.

Shortly before the incident began, Smith had been on the House floor where a vote to pay the National Guard and Reserves during the federal shutdown passed and then he left for a meeting at his office at 2373 Rayburn H.O.B. 

The meeting began before the lockdown order was issued by Capitol police via email at about 2:30 p.m., Sagnip said. At 3:02 p.m., police lifted the lockdown.

"A lock down of half an hour is actually very brief," said Sagnip, who said there are regularly lock downs of that long or even longer when bags, back packs or briefcases are left behind in the Capitol or in Rayburn or other federal buildings.

Most of those incidents turn out to be nothing of any consequence at all, said Sagnip.

When asked when the last time was that shots were fired near the Capitol, he said, "I can't remember the last time that happened, other than a shooting at the Capitol in the 90s."

There were about half a dozen people in the office, including Smith, staff members and guests invited to the meeting.

The Rayburn building is a couple of miles away from the White House.