Terrorism Investigated
Gasoline Doused Car Crashes into D.C. Office Building Intentionally
FBI Looking at Evidence
District of Columbia police and the FBI are investigating what they believe was the intentional crash of an SUV into a downtown Washington office building, police said.
Police spokeswoman Gwendolyn Crump told The Associated Press that the vehicle crashed into the building at Connecticut and L Streets, N.W., Friday night. Crump said the driver suffered minor injuries, but investigators believe the driver did so intentionally. She said the vehicle was stolen and the driver has been apprehended.
The vehicle interior and the driver had been deliberately doused with gasoline. And the vehicle was carrying at least one container of gasoline. An FBI spokeswoman confirmed yesterday (Monday) that members of its Joint Terrorism Task Force had responded to the scene, but did not elaborate beyond what information police had released.
Crump said the building, located less than a mile from The White House and in the city's business district, has a mix of offices, retail shops and restaurants. One floor above, a restaurant was crowded with Friday evening diners. Maureen Mathis, a law student who was in the bar area of a Morton restaurant, told The Post that she heard a crash and that a friend quipped, Is the building collapsing? Should we try to get out? She said she then saw the driver appear to struggle with building security officers, and later with police.