U.S. Capitol Police suspend officer who let visitor in with a gun

U.S. Capitol Police on Thursday said they suspended an officer who let a man with a gun into the Capitol Visitor Center on Tuesday.

The man, who was arrested Tuesday, was also able to enter the Library of Congress with a firearm.

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In a statement, USCP said that they had received a lookout for a man on Tuesday “with reported mental health issues and suicidal thoughts who was believed to be armed and in the area.”

“At approximately 2:15 p.m., the man was found leaving the Library of Congress, after the tour, and walking towards his car. He was stopped, searched, and arrested. A small 9mm handgun was discovered, concealed in his waistband,” the statement said.

USCP added that security video showed the man entering the Capitol Visitor Center earlier in the day.

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“After the magnetometers sounded, an officer performed a secondary hand search, and the man was let into the building. The officer is suspended while the USCP’s Office of Professional Responsibility is conducting an administrative investigation into the officer’s performance of that search,” their statement said.

Capitol Police made clear that no one was harmed in the incident and that there “is no indication that the man was coming to harm the Congress.”

Authorities identified the suspect as James Faber, 27 from Massachusetts. His case is in the hands of the U.S. attorney’s office.

The Carlisle, Massachusetts, Police Department said in a statement Thursday that officers “responded to a call for a wellbeing check” for Faber on Monday. The department issued an alert asking multiple states to be on the lookout for the man after “newly discovered concerns” and officers’ determination that he had left the state.

The department noted that police officers suspended Faber’s license to carry in the state “and seized his firearms from his residence to ensure the safety of the individual and the community.”

Information about Faber’s lawyer was not immediately available.

It is the second high-profile incident involving someone trying to bring weapons into the Capitol this month.

In early January, a Washington, D.C., man with a machete and three knives was arrested while trying to enter the Capitol to view former President Jimmy Carter lying in state.

USCP said that it would conduct a “full review” of the incident and would require a “mandatory refresher training on security screening, so this never happens again.”

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com

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