Woman shot after trying to ram security barrier at US Congress The Capitol was placed on lockdown and both the House and Senate, which had been deliberating a way out of the government shutdown crisis, were recessed. Representative Michael McCaul, a Republican briefed by the Homeland Security Department, told the Associated Press the woman was killed. Asked if she was armed, he replied: "I don't think she was. There was no return fire. The incident, which comes two weeks after a gunman killed 12 people at the nearby Washington Navy Yard, began shortly before 2.30pm on the east side of the White House. Rescue personnel stand around a smashed US Capitol Police car following the shooting The black sedan tried to drive through a security bollard, prompting US Secret Service officers to draw their weapons and confront the vehicle. The car reversed, denting a police car, and then spun away from the Secret Service officers and tore down Connecticut Avenue towards the US Capitol, racing through red lights on the way. In the chaos a US Capitol Police cruiser was seriously damaged and its driver was badly injured. The car is thought to have crashed into a bollard, rather than being hit by the suspect's car. As the car raced through Washington, the order was given to open fire in order to stop it. As the black sedan neared Congress it hit a barrier close to the Hart Senate office building. It was then that police opened fire, killing the woman driver. The car appeared to have Connecticut registration plates and authorities were said to be readying to investigate in the New England state. "We have no information that this was related to terrorism or is anything other than an isolated incident," Chief Kim Dine of the US Capitol Police. The woman was shot by US Capitol Police, who are not currently being paid because of the US government shutdown, which began on Tuesday. President Barack Obama was inside the White House, flanked by Secret Service agents, at the time of the incident. Authorities said he was not in danger. Both the woman and the police office were taken to the MedStar Washington Hospital Center. A spokeswoman would not comment on their conditions. Emergency personnel tend to an unidentified police officer after he was pulled out of a police vehicle