Nightline (ABC) - 1998-07-24

Channel: malgent

Transcript

Language: English (original, YouTube automatic captions)

[0:01] This is a Night Line Friday night

[0:03] special.

[0:08] >> It began at 3:40 this afternoon.

[0:11] Congress was in session. The Capitol

[0:14] building was full of summer tourists.

[0:17] >> It was definitely gunshots.

[0:19] >> I saw the security guard return five.

[0:21] >> He just started shooting everybody.

[0:22] >> And then I looked behind the pillar a

[0:24] little bit and I saw someone shooting.

[0:25] I'm glad you're safe. The asalent made

[0:28] it as far as the office of the

[0:29] Republican whip before he was stopped.

[0:32] In the end, one man was in custody. A

[0:35] young tourist was hospitalized. Two

[0:38] police officers were dead.

[0:40] >> This is a tough day for the United

[0:41] States Capital Police. This is a tough

[0:43] day for the United States Congress and

[0:44] it it's a it's not a good day for the

[0:46] United States.

[0:47] >> Tonight, new details on the capital

[0:49] shooting. New information on the man

[0:52] accused of the attack.

[0:57] from ABC News.

[1:02] This is Night Line, substituting for Ted

[1:05] Cppel and reporting from Washington,

[1:08] Forest Sawyer.

[1:11] >> You are looking at a live picture of the

[1:13] US capital. And there you see the flag

[1:16] at half mast. Police are still very much

[1:19] present outside the building, but they

[1:21] are attempting to return to normal as

[1:23] quickly as they can. And in fact, the

[1:24] capital building is going to be open as

[1:26] usual tomorrow. Now, just a few minutes

[1:28] ago, Sergeant Dan Nichols of the Capitol

[1:31] Police spoke to reporters.

[1:33] >> This is a difficult time for the police

[1:35] department, and I think this is indeed a

[1:38] difficult time for the United States.

[1:39] This is a a terrible incident that's

[1:41] transpired here at at the nation's

[1:43] capital,

[1:45] but we don't want that to dissuade

[1:47] anyone from coming to the nation's

[1:48] capital and experiencing this great

[1:50] building and having access to their to

[1:53] their government.

[1:54] >> Very difficult time for them as they

[1:56] have lost two men throughout the

[1:57] evening. We have been getting a clearer

[1:59] picture of what happened. First of all,

[2:01] we now know that one of the two police

[2:02] officers who confronted the asalent was

[2:05] shot in the head. The other officer who

[2:07] did manage to stop the gunman that is

[2:09] John Gibson was shot in the chest at

[2:11] point blank range. A 24 year old woman,

[2:14] a tourist in fact, Angela Dickerson, was

[2:16] caught in the line of fire. She remains

[2:18] in serious condition and investigators

[2:20] have charged one man with the attack.

[2:22] This man, 41-year-old Russell Weston of

[2:25] Helena, Montana. In fact, this photo was

[2:27] released just a few minutes ago by the

[2:29] state of Montana. Now, as we'll see a

[2:31] few minutes from now, the Secret Service

[2:33] was well aware of Russell Weston before

[2:36] today and did consider him a possible

[2:38] security risk to the president. Of

[2:41] course, there remains a great deal more

[2:42] to learn. Exactly what happened and why.

[2:46] First, how the day unfolded with Night

[2:48] Lines John Donvet.

[2:52] >> It was plain eerie to watch them lower

[2:54] the flag as dusk and silence returned to

[2:57] the Capitol Dome this evening. eerier

[2:59] still to go back to approximately 3:40

[3:03] p.m. and to see what was happening

[3:05] inside the building. A California

[3:07] congressman holding a press conference

[3:08] on healthcare. A Mississippi congressman

[3:11] heaping praise on a home state coral

[3:13] group. The

[3:14] >> University of Mississippi concert

[3:16] singers won top honors last week at the

[3:19] world.

[3:20] >> None of them aware that while they

[3:21] talked inside, this was going on

[3:24] outside.

[3:25] >> The gunman down and we have one officer

[3:27] on correct. We walked in, my wife opened

[3:30] the door and I was a few minutes ahead

[3:31] of us and there was a guy in a doorway

[3:33] and

[3:34] >> started there was an entrance way where

[3:35] the police officers were

[3:36] >> and he just started shooting everybody.

[3:38] >> It was shocking

[3:43] to

[3:48] >> it was confusion

[3:50] >> and I mean I mean you just see your

[3:52] whole life,

[3:54] >> you know, flash in front of you.

[3:57] >> So

[3:57] >> I don't know. I just started crying and

[3:59] um

[4:00] >> it was uncertainty over just what had

[4:02] happened.

[4:03] >> We didn't know what happened to you. You

[4:05] were right near the line of fire and I

[4:07] tried to run back and get you and the

[4:08] man said you could not go back in there.

[4:11] I was trying desperately to get to you.

[4:13] I'm so glad you're safe.

[4:15] >> As you might imagine, police officers

[4:18] are not uh if they know information,

[4:20] they're not staying. Night Line producer

[4:22] Katherine Cross, by now broadcasting

[4:24] live from a cell phone, had been taping

[4:26] an interview across the street.

[4:28] >> What I saw were people coming out of the

[4:30] capital. At first, I saw a uh a man

[4:33] holding a child, and I thought the child

[4:35] was hurt.

[4:35] >> He was running.

[4:36] >> He was running uh as far away from the

[4:38] capital. And then when I looked back,

[4:39] there were more people coming out of the

[4:41] doors. Um I ran over to see what the

[4:43] problem was. And that's when I heard

[4:45] from all sorts of different sources, he

[4:47] was shooting. He was shooting. There's a

[4:49] gun. There's a gunman. It was definitely

[4:51] gunshots.

[4:52] >> Saw a lot of officers running.

[4:54] >> We understand there's one officer down

[4:56] as far as I know. That's the only

[4:58] casualty.

[4:59] >> Bathroom.

[4:59] >> And we stayed there until they come and

[5:01] let us out.

[5:02] >> We thought it was an air conditioner

[5:03] that had blown or something. And then

[5:05] when the second shot went off, that's

[5:07] when we all started running.

[5:08] >> We're missing my grand my grandson's

[5:10] wife and baby right now. We can't find

[5:12] her.

[5:12] >> She's probably hiding somewhere. Daddy.

[5:16] >> One little boy saw all of it. I looked

[5:20] behind the pillar a little bit and I saw

[5:21] someone shooting.

[5:22] >> Can I take you to somebody? You could

[5:24] tell them your story would be okay with

[5:26] because it would help us out a lot and

[5:27] we can have somebody.

[5:29] Okay. Just that no like reporters and

[5:31] all that.

[5:35] >> 4:02 p.m. Casualties are now certain as

[5:38] a helicopter lifts a wounded person from

[5:40] the scene.

[5:42] 4:38 p.m. Nearly an hour after the

[5:45] shooting, the house discussion adjourns

[5:47] as though nothing unusual was going on

[5:49] outside.

[5:51] >> I caught what seemed to be maybe a

[5:52] scuffle or someone kind of running

[5:54] through the entrance, which is on the

[5:55] east side, east front.

[5:56] >> 4:44 p.m. an interview with a solid

[5:59] eyewitness.

[6:00] >> Immediately following the little again

[6:02] scuffle, uh, one gunshot went off,

[6:06] startled us, myself, and two other

[6:08] co-workers.

[6:09] >> A man who works in a kiosk inside the

[6:11] Capitol building. The shooting happened

[6:12] right before his eyes.

[6:14] >> From that point on, um, of course,

[6:16] everybody dropped to the to the floor

[6:18] and now we're in a display area where we

[6:20] have a souvenir stand and I could see

[6:22] through my my display cases. And at that

[6:25] point, I could see the actual shooting

[6:27] going on between the policemen. But by

[6:29] this time, the perpetrator had gone into

[6:32] a an area that is near Tom Delaney's

[6:35] office.

[6:35] >> 4:50 p.m. The first official word, a

[6:39] sergeant in the Capitol Police Force. It

[6:41] appears we had a gunman enter the

[6:43] building and exchange gunfire with US

[6:45] Capital Police officers who were on duty

[6:46] at that time. Two US Capital Police

[6:49] officers were hit by the gunfire.

[6:51] They've been transported to MedStar. The

[6:53] suspect was subsequently shot also. He's

[6:56] been transported to the hospital. In

[6:58] addition to the two officers and the

[7:00] suspect, we had one civilian who was

[7:02] injured by the gunfire.

[7:04] >> By now, this basic scenario was

[7:06] emerging. Though the capital is one of

[7:08] the nation's most heavily guarded

[7:10] buildings, surrounded by roadblocks and

[7:12] its own security forces, by design, it

[7:14] is open to public foot traffic.

[7:16] Apparently, the gunman mingled with

[7:18] tourists and approached the capital from

[7:20] the east side. He entered by what is

[7:22] called the document door, an entrance

[7:24] that members of Congress share with

[7:26] members of the public. He exchanged

[7:28] gunfire with security officers. He ran

[7:30] for the offices of Congressman Tom Delay

[7:33] where there was more gunfire.

[7:35] When you hear gunshots going off like

[7:37] that, you don't know what to do. And I

[7:39] ran towards the gunshots, but I saw my

[7:41] staff coming towards me. And there's two

[7:44] women in my outside office and I grabbed

[7:47] him and another uh staffer and we ran

[7:50] into my bathroom

[7:52] off of my office and locked the door and

[7:55] tried I have a cell phone on my hip and

[7:58] we tried to call the Capitol police, but

[8:01] unfortunately in the bathroom I got no

[8:03] signal.

[8:04] >> 6:15 p.m. A spokesman for George

[8:07] Washington Hospital has an update on the

[8:09] wounded civilian Angela Dickerson, aged

[8:12] 24. She is in serious condition. She has

[8:16] two wounds from gunshot, one facial and

[8:19] one shoulder.

[8:20] >> 6:30 p.m.

[8:22] >> The worst news of the day.

[8:24] >> At this time, it's my uh sad duty to

[8:28] announce that both United States Capital

[8:31] Police officers have been declared dead

[8:33] at the hospitals. Both United States

[8:35] Capital Police officers were killed in

[8:37] the line of duty.

[8:39] The officer is identified as officer

[8:41] Jacob Chestnut, who's an 18-year veteran

[8:43] of the United States Capital Police. He

[8:45] was assigned to the Capitol Division.

[8:47] The other officer, Special Agent John

[8:49] Gibson, who's an 8-year veteran of the

[8:52] US Capital Police, assigned to the

[8:54] Dignitary Protection Division

[8:55] >> and testimonials to the men who died.

[8:58] >> They responded as they were trained to

[9:01] respond

[9:03] without hesitation and courageously.

[9:06] And but for their actions, we may have

[9:09] lost many more

[9:12] visitors to the capital, workers in the

[9:15] capital, and representatives of the

[9:17] people of this country.

[9:19] >> We owe them a lot, and it's very

[9:22] humbling, very humbling, when somebody

[9:26] loses their life in protecting yours.

[9:29] >> Meanwhile, details began to emerge about

[9:32] the man police say is their suspect.

[9:34] Russell Weston, a 41-year-old from

[9:36] Montana. Weston survived his wounds.

[9:40] This evening, once they lowered the

[9:42] flag, they immediately raised it again

[9:45] halfway and left it there. A sign of

[9:48] mourning for the men who died under the

[9:50] dome and a sense of loss that one more

[9:53] place in America now feels unsafe. I'm

[9:57] John Don Van for Night Line in

[9:59] Washington.

[10:01] Certainly the greatest mystery in all

[10:03] this is Russell Weston, that man accused

[10:05] of the attack. Who is he? Why did he

[10:07] allegedly walk into the Capitol building

[10:09] with a 38 caliber handgun and begin

[10:12] firing? Night lines Michelle McQueen is

[10:14] here with us with that story. And you've

[10:15] been learning some things.

[10:16] >> Yes, Forest, but not a whole lot. Law

[10:18] enforcement officials said earlier today

[10:20] that Weston had been investigated for

[10:22] making threats against the president

[10:23] beginning in the spring of 1996. ABC's

[10:26] Brian Ross has been told by a federal

[10:28] law enforcement source that Weston was a

[10:30] frequent writer of indirect threats

[10:32] against the president that were

[10:33] nevertheless serious enough to warrant

[10:35] an interview by the Secret Service. The

[10:37] source said Westeron considered himself

[10:39] an oppressed white man and believed that

[10:41] the government was corrupt and favored

[10:43] minorities. As John Don Van told us,

[10:44] Weston is 41 years old. He was raised in

[10:47] Walmire, Illinois near St. Louis, where

[10:50] family friends tell us he was known as

[10:51] Rusty. But in recent years, he was also

[10:54] spending time in a cabin in Helena,

[10:56] Montana, where he had some trouble with

[10:57] the law. He was arrested in 1991 on a

[11:00] charge of selling a dangerous drug, but

[11:02] the charges were later dropped. It is a

[11:04] cliche, but he does seem to have been a

[11:07] loner. Few of his Montana neighbors seem

[11:09] to know him in the kind of town where

[11:10] people tend to know each other. But one

[11:13] neighbor told the Associated Press that

[11:14] Mr. Weston believed that the government

[11:16] was using his satellite dish to spy on

[11:18] him. And the Miami Herald reported that

[11:20] a man who identified himself as Weston's

[11:22] father told him that his son believed

[11:24] the government had planted mines on his

[11:26] Montana property. The father also told

[11:29] the Herald that he had ordered his son

[11:30] out of the house last Thursday after he

[11:33] shot a number of cats with a shotgun.

[11:35] The father father also told the Herald

[11:37] that his own handgun, a Smith and Wesson

[11:40] 38, was missing. Law enforcement

[11:42] officials told ABC News that a 38 was

[11:44] used in today's shooting. Law

[11:46] enforcement officials are also believed

[11:48] to be interviewing family members right

[11:50] now. The neighborhood where the family

[11:51] lives has been cordoned off. We were

[11:54] also able to speak with a number of high

[11:56] school acquaintances of Mr. Weston's.

[11:58] Among them was Gary Bomb, who told us

[12:00] that Mr. Wesson was an average teenager

[12:02] in their small high school, except that

[12:04] he sent an angry expletativefilled

[12:06] letter declining the invitation to

[12:08] attend a high school reunion a few years

[12:10] ago. Tonight, Mr. Weston is recovering

[12:13] at a Washington hospital from gunshot

[12:15] wounds to his legs and abdomen that he

[12:17] received during the gun battle. He

[12:19] underwent 4 hours of surgery and is in

[12:21] stable condition. He's expected to be

[12:23] charged tomorrow and could be facing the

[12:25] death penalty in connection with the

[12:26] deaths of the two federal officers.

[12:28] Forest,

[12:29] >> well, small pieces of information at

[12:30] least suggest an angry and disturbed

[12:32] young man. Thanks very much, Michelle.

[12:34] Now, just a moment from now, three

[12:36] perspectives on today's tragedy from a

[12:38] member of Congress, from a former Secret

[12:40] Service agent, and from ABC's Cookie

[12:43] Roberts.

[12:46] >> This is ABC News Night Line, brought to

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[13:57] >> Sunday on this week with Sam Donaldson

[13:59] and Koki Roberts. Will the president

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[15:13] >> Well, joining us here in Washington,

[15:14] California, Representative Bill Thomas.

[15:16] He is chairman of the House Oversight

[15:18] Committee in charge of Capital Security.

[15:20] former Secret Service agent Chuck Vance

[15:23] and ABC's Cookie Roberts who quite

[15:25] literally grew up here in the Capitol as

[15:26] the daughter of former majority leader

[15:28] Hail Bogs. Uh, Congressman, I was just

[15:32] talking with Ki before we came on the

[15:33] air and she points out that so many

[15:35] people don't really understand what a

[15:37] family atmosphere this is. There's only

[15:39] about a little more than a thousand

[15:41] uniformed officers and they often serve

[15:43] for so many years. So,

[15:45] >> people get to know each other. Well, not

[15:47] only you get to know each other, but

[15:49] those thousand are fanned out over about

[15:51] uh 50 million square feet. So, if you

[15:53] travel particular patterns, you see the

[15:56] same officers repeatedly. Uh you get to

[15:58] know each other when you bump into each

[16:00] other and have time to visit 6 8 10

[16:02] times a day.

[16:03] >> So, the horror kokei is is more than

[16:05] just knowing that the capital building

[16:07] has been assaulted. It is it's very

[16:08] personal.

[16:09] >> But that is a horror. I mean,

[16:11] >> of course it is. But I'm saying it

[16:13] strikes right to your heart.

[16:14] >> It is right to your heart. You walk in,

[16:16] you see Officer Chestnut, you say, "Good

[16:17] morning. How are you?" You get to know

[16:19] who his children are. He gets to know

[16:21] who your children are. He says to you,

[16:23] "How is how's that boy doing, Miss

[16:25] Roberts?" You know, and you get into

[16:27] that conversation all the time. We are

[16:29] very very close there. You'd be amazed,

[16:31] Forest. Uh I have gone to funerals of

[16:34] members of older people who died

[16:36] naturally who are uh former waiters or

[16:40] or or policemen at the Capitol and I'll

[16:42] show up there and and Tip O'Neal and Bob

[16:45] Dole will be there. You know, this is a

[16:47] very close family.

[16:48] >> The question that is going to be on so

[16:50] many people's lips tomorrow,

[16:52] Congressman, is is quite simply, was the

[16:53] security adequate? Was everything done

[16:55] that could be done? Uh obviously we're

[16:58] going to review as we do after every

[17:00] incident what our security was and

[17:03] whether or not everyone who was involved

[17:05] professionally responded correctly. I

[17:07] can tell you that uh firsthand

[17:09] observation on my part and a quick

[17:11] followup over the next several hours. We

[17:14] believe that everything was done

[17:15] correctly. Uh these two officers

[17:17] responded professionally. The rest of

[17:20] the core responded professionally. Uh

[17:22] medics, the rest, all of them did their

[17:25] job. This fellow blasted his way through

[17:27] one particular area of the Capitol and

[17:30] didn't get very far at all as your

[17:31] graphic indicated when another officer

[17:34] professionally in the line of duty did

[17:36] what he was trained to do.

[17:37] >> Well, the investigation continues.

[17:38] Evidence is being collected. I assume

[17:40] that at most entranceways there are

[17:43] video cameras to track who comes in. Is

[17:45] that right, Congressman?

[17:45] >> Well, we have sophisticated surveillance

[17:47] equipment, of course.

[17:48] >> And I would assume at this store there

[17:50] was that. Uh well and there were uh as

[17:53] uh your uh earlier tape indicated plenty

[17:55] of eyewitnesses and they had

[17:56] photographic equipment. I believe we

[17:58] have photographs as well.

[17:59] >> So you have sufficient photographic

[18:00] evidence of the event itself.

[18:02] >> I cannot make a judgment of sufficient

[18:04] that will be done by professionals.

[18:06] >> But but but Congressman Thomas makes a

[18:09] point for us which is that almost every

[18:11] tourist coming in the capital these days

[18:12] has a high eight camera. We in the press

[18:15] have complained about it. They can take

[18:17] pictures where we can't and they pro

[18:20] there probably a lot of there's probably

[18:21] a lot of tape of this incident.

[18:23] >> Koki, you've been there for so many

[18:24] years. You know that there have been

[18:25] talk in the past about security. There

[18:27] will be talk now about security. This is

[18:29] not a new issue.

[18:30] >> No. And uh it has come up over and over.

[18:33] I actually remember the Puerto Rican

[18:35] shooting in 1954. I was 10 years old. I

[18:38] was at school in the suburbs here and it

[18:41] reached our school midday the news of

[18:44] it. And it was terrifying because

[18:45] several of our fathers were there and uh

[18:48] it was just frightening. But at that

[18:50] point there was a big talk about

[18:52] security. There's been talk about it

[18:53] ever since. And the security is of

[18:55] course much greater than it ever has

[18:57] been. But always balanced against the

[19:00] idea of greater security is the notion

[19:02] that this is the people's building. And

[19:05] that's such an important notion because

[19:08] it because the terrorists win if the

[19:10] public can't go to the capital. Russell

[19:11] West, just one point because Koke points

[19:14] out something. It's especially hard for

[19:17] those of us who have to be in the middle

[19:18] of that uh professional tension because

[19:22] these professional officers want to make

[19:24] sure we're absolutely secure. And

[19:26] there's an ongoing tension between how

[19:29] secure they want to make us and how much

[19:31] we want to make sure that the people

[19:33] don't feel they don't have access.

[19:34] >> When we come back, we want to turn to

[19:36] this issue of Russell Weston and who he

[19:37] was. He was apparently on a Secret

[19:39] Service watch list. Chuck Vance, a

[19:41] former Secret Service agent, is with us.

[19:42] We'll talk to him about that when we

[19:44] come back in just a moment.

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[21:19] >> I hope I see you there.

[21:23] >> Coming up, as usual with Republicans, I

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[21:27] hadn't super loaded the issue with a

[21:29] bunch of crap.

[21:31] Politically Incorrect with Bill Maher

[21:32] coming up.

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[22:36] >> The subject of the shooting at the

[22:37] Capitol building. Russell Weston is the

[22:39] man who is the accused asalent. Secret

[22:41] Service, former Secret Service agent

[22:43] Chuck Vance. Apparently, Russell Weston

[22:45] was on a Secret Service watch list. What

[22:47] does that mean?

[22:48] >> Well, as you might imagine, Forest, the

[22:50] president of the United States gets

[22:51] hundreds of threats that the Secret

[22:53] Service learns of in a in a over a

[22:55] period of time. They in they range from

[22:58] everything from frivolous talk in a bar

[23:00] to serious threats by potential

[23:02] terrorist groups. The Secret Service

[23:04] takes all of them seriously and they go

[23:06] out and interview each each incident.

[23:09] And in this particular case, uh uh from

[23:11] what I've heard, Mr. Weston had made

[23:14] some verbal threats against the

[23:15] president, had written some letters, and

[23:17] I'm sure the Secret Service interviewed

[23:19] him. Now, once they interview him, and

[23:22] then they in many cases when there when

[23:24] there's mental instability, they'll get

[23:26] a psychiatrist involved, and then they

[23:28] determine if that person is of

[23:29] protective interest. In most cases, they

[23:32] are not. Uh they're they're usually

[23:33] eliminated. Uh in Mr. Weston's case, I

[23:36] suspect that he was not on the highest

[23:38] level of threat, but uh he was somebody

[23:40] that they were aware of, knew of, and

[23:42] had talked to.

[23:42] >> Chuck, I was surprised to learn that the

[23:44] FBI apparently was not aware that he was

[23:46] on the watch list. Is that standard

[23:47] operating procedure?

[23:48] >> Well, it just depends if there was some

[23:50] reason to pass it on the FBI. If it's if

[23:52] it's strictly within the Secret Service

[23:54] protectes, there would be no reason to

[23:55] pass it on.

[23:56] >> Is there anything that the Secret

[23:58] Service could have done in your wildest

[23:59] imagination that might have alerted uh

[24:01] the Capitol Police to what was going to

[24:03] happen? Well, no, because I think it was

[24:05] very obvious they didn't know he was in

[24:06] the area. If they knew had known he was

[24:08] in the area, uh, I think they would have

[24:10] alerted people, they would also would

[24:11] have been concerned for their for their

[24:12] own protectees.

[24:13] >> Uh, Congressman Thomas, we have have a

[24:15] pretty good idea how the two police

[24:17] officers were injured during this, but

[24:18] we're still questioning how Angela

[24:20] Dickerson, the 24-year-old tourist,

[24:21] might have been wounded. You know that?

[24:23] >> Uh, yes. Once Weston blasted his way

[24:26] past Officer Chestnut, the other

[24:29] officers responded immediately. And of

[24:31] course there were tourists around that

[24:32] interest. The only direction that he

[24:34] could move was back into that corridor

[24:36] as you indicated. She was literally

[24:39] pushed along as he went through that

[24:41] door. Uh and eyewitnesses indicated to

[24:43] me that that was the point at which

[24:45] there was the fatal and final shootout.

[24:47] >> After he fired at officer Chestnut, he

[24:49] apparently or at least another officer

[24:51] engaged in fire at him. Do you know who

[24:52] that officer is?

[24:53] >> Uh I do not at this time, but I believe

[24:55] he dropped uh Weston at that point and

[24:57] Weston got up again. Koki, there's going

[24:59] to be a lot of questions tomorrow. One

[25:01] of the questions that I think a lot of

[25:03] people are going to have is is it going

[25:04] to be safe to go to the capital

[25:05] building? Is there anything more that

[25:06] can be done that will be done? How is

[25:08] that going to be addressed?

[25:09] >> Well, with any luck, it will be

[25:11] addressed rationally and not with a a

[25:14] tremendous response about well, we

[25:17] should be making this place a fortress.

[25:19] Uh after the bombings in Lebanon in the

[25:22] 1980s, there was a a commission

[25:25] established to look at security at the

[25:27] capital and there was everything from

[25:29] surfaceto-air missiles on the top of the

[25:31] office buildings to a fence around the

[25:33] capital proposed and the fence became a

[25:36] viable uh option and the and the

[25:39] Congress finally understood they

[25:41] couldn't keep the people out of the

[25:42] capital.

[25:43] >> Congressman, I'm so short of time, but I

[25:44] believe that for all of us, we should we

[25:46] should say a word or two about these two

[25:47] remarkable officers.

[25:48] Uh absolutely because as Koki said it's

[25:51] a family. Well there were officers and

[25:53] they had a family as well. Uh each of

[25:55] them had three children. We knew them.

[25:57] We talked about them and all of us are

[26:00] proud of the professionalism they

[26:01] exhibited at the moment. They had to be

[26:04] professionals to protect us which was

[26:05] their job. Our hearts go out to their

[26:07] families.

[26:08] >> Congressman Chuck Vance Cookie Roberts.

[26:09] Thanks so much tonight. A very difficult

[26:11] day. We'll be back in just a moment.

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[26:53] we'll just take

[26:56] >> So, these guys

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[27:49] >> They've had to do a little remodeling at

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[28:25] >> License, please.

[28:26] >> Was I speeding?

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[28:38] >> Uhhuh.

[28:38] >> So, I have just one question. Do you

[28:40] feel lucky, Mr. Johnson?

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[28:44] >> Yes, I do.

[28:44] >> You should

[28:46] >> see your Cadillac dealer today.

[28:53] >> Just to review what we know about

[28:54] today's shooting. Two US capital

[28:56] policemen are dead. A young woman, a

[28:58] tourist, was wounded and is in serious

[29:00] condition. The gunman, alleged gunman

[29:02] who was also wounded, has been arrested

[29:03] and is expected to be formally charged

[29:05] tomorrow with the murder of the two

[29:06] officers and that is a charge that could

[29:09] carry the death penalty. Now, tomorrow,

[29:11] President Clinton is going to be making

[29:12] a statement about the shootings at the

[29:14] capital. Of course, ABC News will be

[29:16] carrying his remarks live. But that is

[29:18] our report for tonight. I'm Forest Ser

[29:20] in Washington. For all of us here at ABC

[29:22] News, good night.

[29:26] >> Night Line has been a presentation of

[29:28] ABC News. More Americans get their news

[29:30] from ABC News than from any other

[29:32] source. ABC News, now always on.

[29:35] >> This is Barry Sandersfield.

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