1998 United States Capitol shooting
1998 United States Capitol shooting | |
---|---|
Location | UTC-4) |
Target | United States Capitol |
Attack type | Mass shooting |
Weapons | .38 caliber Smith & Wesson revolver |
Deaths | 2 |
Injured | 3 (including the perpetrator) |
Perpetrator | Russell Eugene Weston Jr. |
The 1998 United States Capitol shooting occurred on July 24, 1998, when Russell Eugene Weston Jr. entered the Capitol and fatally shot United States Capitol Police officers Jacob Chestnut and Detective John Gibson.[1]
Gibson died during surgery at
Shooting
On the day of the shooting, Officer Chestnut and an unarmed civilian security aide were assigned to operate the X-ray machine and magnetometer at the Document Door entrance located on the East Front of the Capitol, which was open only to
Upon hearing the gunfire, Detective Gibson, who was in plain clothes, told the office staff to hide under their desks. Weston entered the office and quickly shot Gibson. Mortally wounded, Gibson returned fire, shooting Weston four times. Two other officers arrested Weston in the same office.
Angela Dickerson, a tourist, was grazed on her face and shoulder by shrapnel from a marble wall as McMillan's rounds impacted the wall while he was attempting to hit the fleeing Weston.[11] She was treated for her injuries and released.[12]
Aftermath
Officers Chestnut and Gibson were killed in the attack. Both officers received the tribute of
In 1999, Weston was found incompetent to stand trial due to mental illness; he had a history of
The shooting led to the creation of the United States Capitol Police Memorial Fund, a nonprofit organization managed by the
On March 6, 2008, Weston filed a motion requesting a hearing on his mental status. The hearing was held on May 6 with Weston appearing via teleconference from the Federal Medical Center, Butner with his public defender Jane Pierce and two witnesses he selected, a psychologist and vocational rehabilitation specialist.[6] Federal judge Earl Britt denied Weston's request to be released from the federal facility, arguing that he failed to present enough evidence that he no longer needed to be committed. During the hearing, defense psychologist Holly Rogers stated that "sometimes there are individuals who simply do not respond to medication", implying that Weston was not ready for release. Had Weston been released from the facility, it would have made it possible for him to be taken to Washington, D.C., to stand trial for the murders of Gibson and Chestnut.[12]
On July 24, 2008, members of Congress paused for a moment of silence to mark the shooting's tenth anniversary. On the east lawn of the Capitol, Democratic and Republican lawmakers planted a tree in memory of Gibson and Chestnut.[21]
Officers
Officer Jacob Joseph Chestnut (April 28, 1940 – July 24, 1998) was the first
Perpetrator
Russell Eugene Weston Jr. (born December 28, 1956), also known as Rusty, grew up in Valmeyer, Illinois, a town of 900 people. Shortly after graduating from Valmeyer High School in 1974, Weston moved to Rimini, Montana, rarely returning to Valmeyer. His classmates' only attempt at inviting him to a class reunion was returned with obscenities written across it.[28] Many of Weston's Montana neighbors disliked and often ignored him. They considered him to be unusual and sometimes eccentric. Weston had once thought that his neighbor was using his television satellite dish to spy on his actions and believed Navy SEALs were hiding in his cornfield.[28]
Weston was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia six years before the shooting and spent fifty-three days in a mental hospital after threatening a Montana resident. He was released after testing as no danger to himself or anyone else.[29] Two years before the shooting in July 1996, Weston bought a new suit and set off on a cross-country trip to visit the headquarters of the Central Intelligence Agency in McLean, Virginia. He said his operative name was "The Moon" and claimed he had important information for the Director of the CIA. He was taken to a small conference room at the facility and interviewed for 50 minutes, recorded on videotape. He then left the facility.[30]
Eighteen months before the shooting, he moved back to Valmeyer from Montana. Once home, he was known to compulsively hack at trees that filled his backyard following the Mississippi River floods of 1993. There was so much downed timber on his family's homestead that his father had to ask him to stop cutting down trees.[29] Two days before the Capitol shooting, at his grandmother's insistence to do something about nearby cats which were becoming a nuisance, Weston shot and killed 14 cats with a single-barreled shotgun, leaving several in a bucket and burying the rest.[29]
Following the Capitol shooting, Weston was transferred to a psychiatric center at
One contentious issue of Weston's incarceration was that of forced medication. He had refused to take any medications voluntarily, so in May 2001, a federal judge authorized doctors to treat Weston involuntarily. A panel from a federal appeals court ruled in July 2001 that Weston could be forced to take the drugs, which he was then forced to do for 120 days.
See also
- 1954 United States Capitol shooting
- Killing of Miriam Carey (2013)
- Congressional baseball shooting
- January 6, 2021 United States Capitol attack
- 2021 United States Capitol car attack
- List of incidents of political violence in Washington, D.C.
- List of attacks on legislatures
References
- ^ a b "2 dead, 2 hurt in U.S. Capitol shooting". CNN.com. Archived from the original on October 29, 2006. Retrieved January 19, 2007.
- ^ Dwilson, Stephanie Dube (February 28, 2018). "Jacob Chestnut & John Gibson: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know". Heavy.com. Archived from the original on August 9, 2020. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
- ISBN 978-0-7391-8360-1. Archivedfrom the original on July 24, 2023. Retrieved July 16, 2022.
- )
- ^ Remembering the '98 Capitol shooting (Photos) Archived February 22, 2021, at the Wayback Machine WTOP-FM
- ^ a b Yehle, Emily (May 7, 2008). "Weston unlikely to ever be tried". Roll Call. Washington, D.C. pp. 1, 16.
- ^ a b "Capitol shooting suspect was 'low-level threat' to Clinton". CNN. Archived from the original on September 13, 2005. Retrieved January 11, 2007.
- ^ "Gunman Shoots His Way Into Capitol; Two Officers Killed, Suspect Captured". The Washington Post. January 30, 1999. Archived from the original on October 25, 2012. Retrieved January 12, 2007.
- ^ "Attack on Capitol Hill". EmergencyNet News. Archived from the original on December 8, 2006. Retrieved January 11, 2007.
- ^ Clines, Francis X. (July 25, 1998). "Capitol Hill Slayings: The Overview; Gunman Invades Capitol, Killing 2 Guards". The New York Times. Archived from the original on August 9, 2021. Retrieved January 11, 2007.
- ^ "Horrifying Capitol ordeal began with officer's execution" Archived August 21, 2019, at the Wayback Machine. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (July 26, 1998).
- ^ a b Yehle, Emily (April 16, 2008). "Weston Competency Hearing Set". Roll Call. Washington, D.C.: Roll Call, Inc. pp. 1, 18.
- ^ "Authorizing the use of the Rotunda of the Capitol..." United States Senate. Archived from the original on July 5, 2016. Retrieved January 12, 2007.
- ^ Frieden, Terry. "Weston found incompetent to stand trial for Capitol shooting". CNN. Archived from the original on February 13, 2007. Retrieved January 11, 2007.
- ^ "Capitol Shooter Russell Weston, Three Years Later". New York Press. Archived from the original on November 28, 2006. Retrieved January 11, 2007.
- ^ "2 U.S. Code § 1953". Cornell Law School. Archived from the original on June 29, 2022. Retrieved June 29, 2022.
- ^ Renzi, Rick. "Members, Capitol Police Square Off in 2006 'Longest Yard' Flag Football Game". United States House of Representatives. Archived from the original on December 5, 2008. Retrieved January 17, 2007.
- ^ "Jacob Joseph Chestnut–John Michael Gibson United States Capitol Visitor Center Act of 1998 (Introduced in House)". United States House of Representatives. Archived from the original on July 5, 2016. Retrieved January 11, 2007.
- ^ "Attack Stirs Interest in Visitors Center". The Washington Post. January 30, 1999. Archived from the original on October 25, 2012. Retrieved January 11, 2007.
- ^ "To rename the Document Door of the Capitol as the Chestnut-Gibson Memorial Door. (Introduced in Senate)". United States Senate. Archived from the original on August 21, 2019. Retrieved January 18, 2007.
- ^ Reilly, Daniel W. (July 24, 2008). "Capitol pauses to honor slain police officers". Politico. Archived from the original on August 1, 2008. Retrieved August 10, 2009.
- ^ "Lying in State or in Honor". US Architect of the Capitol (AOC). Archived from the original on May 18, 2019. Retrieved September 1, 2018.
- ^ a b "Tribute to slain Vietvet Capitol Police Officer Jacob J. Chestnut: USAF Air Police Officer (SPS), and VSPA member". Archived from the original on June 13, 2023. Retrieved April 23, 2021.
- ^ Burial Detail: Chestnut, Jacob J (section 4, grave 2764-A) Archived October 16, 2020, at the Wayback Machine – ANC Explorer
- ^ H.R.4516 - To designate the United States Postal Service building located at 11550 Livingston Road, in Oxon Hill, Maryland, as the "Jacob Joseph Chestnut Post Office Building" Archived April 23, 2021, at the Wayback Machine (105th Congress).
- ^ Burial Detail: Gibson, John M (section 28, grave 140) Archived October 16, 2020, at the Wayback Machine – ANC Explorer
- ^ Schmitt, Eric (July 27, 1998). "Capitol Hill slayings: The Police; Congress to Pay Tribute to Slain Officers". Newyorktimes.com. Archived from the original on May 14, 2010. Retrieved January 17, 2007.
- ^ a b "Capitol Hill Slayings: The Suspect; Man Hospitalized in '96 for Ominous Letters". Newyorktimes.com. July 26, 1998. Archived from the original on October 21, 2012. Retrieved January 19, 2007.
- ^ a b c "Before the Shootings, a String of Excesses". Washingtonpost.com. January 30, 1999. Archived from the original on October 15, 2008. Retrieved January 11, 2007.
- ^ "A Living Hell or a Life Saved?". Washingtonpost.com. January 23, 2001. Archived from the original on January 26, 2021. Retrieved December 23, 2020.
- ^ "Capitol Shooter's Mind-Set Detailed". Washingtonpost.com. April 23, 1999. Archived from the original on March 10, 2021. Retrieved January 26, 2010.
- ^ "Judge Rules Capitol Gunman Can Be Forced to Take Medicine". Newyorktimes.com. August 3, 2002. Archived from the original on July 24, 2023. Retrieved January 19, 2007.
- ^ "Forcible Medication of Mentally Ill Criminal Defendants: The Case of Russell Eugene Weston, Jr". Stanford Law Review. 54 (4) – via JSTOR.
External links
- Indictment of Russell Eugene Weston, Jr. Archived February 6, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
- Tributes by members of Congress, C-SPAN
- "From the Shootings to the Investigation", The Washington Post
- "Jacob Joseph Chestnut; John Michael Gibson". ArlingtonCemetery.net. March 13, 2023. an unofficial website. [unreliable source?]