WASHINGTON — Officials have cleared an area where a suspicious vehicle was found near the U.S. Capitol Wednesday afternoon.
According to an alert from the United States Capitol Police (USCP), the suspicious vehicle was found in the 100 block of East Capitol Street, Southeast around 3:45 p.m.
USCP claims officers noticed the white van when it was parked illegally on Capitol Grounds. Police have since announced that the van has been cleared by the Hazardous Incident Response Division.
Officers detained three people, two men and one woman, who said they were in the area to deliver documents to the U.S. Supreme Court. USCP searched the van and reportedly found two handguns and a shotgun inside the van.
Weapons are prohibited on Capitol Grounds, however, USCP claims dozens of people are arrested each year for violating the law.
The driver, later identified as 80-year-old Tony H. Payne of Tunnel Hill, Georgia, has been charged with Unregistered Firearm, Unregistered Ammunition, and Carrying a Pistol without a License. The previously detained man and woman were not arrested.
Marilyn Seay told WUSA9 she was the woman in the van. Outside the Supreme Court watching investigators look through the van she said police had detained her for about three hours before letting her go.
Seay said she met Payne and his grandson in Harrisonburg, Va. when her car broke down on her way to D.C. She said Payne and his grandson were on their way home to Georgia, but Payne agreed to turn back to D.C. and give Seay a ride to the Supreme Court.
"They said that Tony had guns...I knew he had one. I didn't know he had more," she said of the man police arrested and charged.
Guns are prohibited on Capitol grounds. Capitol Police say "dozens" of people break this law each year.
Seay said she wasn't sure where she and Payne's grandson would go for the night. They hoped to have Payne out of jail by sometime Thursday.
"We have no place to go. They have the vehicle," she said.
Staff and other personnel were advised to avoid the area while officials investigated. Several roads in the area have been closed while officials investigate and have since reopened.
The suspicious vehicle was discovered hours after police began investigating a suspicious FedEx truck near the U.S. Department of Energy in Germantown, Maryland.
According to the Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency, they consider the following characteristics to be indicative of suspicious packages:
- Rigid or bulky
- Lopsided or uneven
- Wrapped in string
- Badly written or misspelled labels
- Generic or incorrect titles
- Excessive postage
- No postage
- Foreign writing, postage, or return address
- Missing, nonsensical, or unknown return address
- Leaks, stains, powders, or protruding materials
- Ticking, vibration, or another sound