Capitol bomb threat: Suspect in police custody after hours-long standoff and demand to speak with Biden
US Capitol Police arrest Floyd Ray Roseberry following five-hour standoff
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A man suspected of initiating a bomb threat in Washington DC has surrendered to law enforcement following a nearly five-hour standoff.
Floyd Ray Roseberry, 49, from Grover in southern North Carolina, brought the nation’s capital to a standstill after streaming his rambling threats to Facebook while parked on the pavement outside the Library of Congress.
US Capitol Police reported that a bomb was not recovered from the truck but “but possible bomb making materials were collected” after Mr Roseberry’s arrest.
He reportedly told a Capitol Police officer at the scene that he had a bomb, and “the officer noticed what appeared to be a detonator in the man’s hand,” according to Capitol Police.
Roseberry “was communicating by holding up hand-written signs through the front, driver-side window,” police said.
Officers then gave him a phone “in hopes of trying to continue the dialogue.”
Following an hours-long standoff, he followed officers’ instructions and crawled away from the truck.
Nearby Capitol office buildings were evacuated. Both the House and the Senate are on recess, meaning most lawmakers are in their home states, but staffers and Library of Congress employees were working near the scene, prompting the evacuations. Police also went door to door to alert residents in the area.
An eyewitness says she saw a man in a black pickup truck in front of the Library of Congress shouting that he had “a bomb” while tossing dollar bills out of the window.
Sydney Bobb, 22, a student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said she was on her way to a race in politics class near the Library of Congress at about 9.25am when she noticed the man in the vehicle.
“I was walking on that block because that’s where I go to class. He was shouting that he had a bomb. And then he threw money out the side of the truck,” Ms Bobb told The Independent by phone as she was being evacuated from her class.
The FBI and Department of Justice are assisting with the case.
More evacuations reported
Nathaniel Reed, a DC-based reporter for Newsy, said on Twitter that additional buildings had been evacuated:
Capitol police investigating reports of explosives in truck near Library of Congress
Capitol police are investigating reports that a possible explosive device had been spotted in a pickup truck near the Library of Congress in Washington DC.
The area around the Library on Capitol Hill was being evacuated on Thursday morning and people are being urged to stay away from the area.
Law enforcement officers told the Associated Press investigators at the scene were trying to determine whether the device was an “operable explosive”.
“The USCP is responding to a suspicious vehicle near the Library of Congress,” the US Capitol Police force said in a tweet.
“Please stay away from this area and follow this account for the latest information.”
The Capitol police described it as an “ongoing investigation”.
“We are monitoring this situation closely and will update this account as we get information we can release.”
Situated next to the US Capitol building and the Supreme Court, the Library of Congress is the largest in the world.
Capitol police investigating reports of explosives in truck
Area around the Library of Congress is being evacuated after reports of a pickup truck containing a possible explosive device
Police sends negotiators to speak to man in truck making threat
Law enforcement says it’s an ‘active bomb threat investigation’
Police working to determine if man is holding detonator
Law enforcement is working to determine if the man in the pickup truck is holding a detonator and if the explosive device is operable.
The incident comes months after a pipe bomb was left at the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee and the Republican National Committee in Washington a day before thousands of pro-Trump rioters stormed the US Capitol in January.
The Associated Press contributed reporting.
DC Metro trains will not stop at station close to active bomb threat
ATF officers also responding to active bomb threat
Officers from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) are also responding to what the US Capitol Police is calling an “active bomb threat investigation,” NBC4 reports.
‘Remain calm and relocate’: Safety alert goes to people in Capitol Hill office building
Evacuation order issued for Library of Congress Madison Building
Video: Capitol Hill evacuations underway as police investigate 'possible explosive'
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