Source: AFP via Yahoo News
Well, it appears that Rep. Saxton is the man to
A US lawmaker admitted to being the source of the mistaken report of gunfire that sparked the mayhem amid worries that an armed intruder was on the loose in Congress, leading authorities to shut down parts of the legislative office complex for hours.
Republican Representative Jim Saxton, speaking to Fox television, said he was in an elevator at the garage level of the Rayburn House Office building, when he heard what he thought was gunfire.
"I heard what I thought to be between six and ten shots," the Republican lawmaker said.
"It sounded exactly like gunfire to me. It was not of a backfire nature. It was the sharp crack as comes out of a weapon."
Saxton continued: "I dove back into the elevator, rushed back to my office and asked my chief of staff to report what I had seen or heard to the Capitol Hill Police, which she did, and that started the chain of events that unfolded over the course of the day."
Eventually Capitol police spokeswoman Kimberly Schneider revealed that the misunderstanding was result of noise from nearby construction.
"There were some workers working in the area of the Rayburn garage and elevator area," Schneider said. "In doing their routine duties they made some sort after noise that sounded like shots fired."
Saxton, without apologizing for the mayhem his report unleashed, told Fox television that the silver lining in the whole episode was that it gave Capitol Police a chance to shine.
"It showed how prepared the Capitol Hill police are to respond to these kinds of events, and not only the Capitol Police, but the
FBI and the other investigators and scientists who were here trying to discover what happened throughout the day," he said.
"It was a great testament to a lot of people who were highly trained and very capable of taking care of the situation," said Saxton.
Well, that's nice. Let's get people to ignore your moment of stupidity by saying, "Oh, but look how quickly Capitol Police got here!" They're trained to do that, you tool. Next time, try apologizing for ruining the beginning of everyone's holiday weekend.
Tags: [Rep. Jim Saxton], ['Gunfire' false alarm sparks panic in the US Capitol], [panic at the Capitol], [gunfire turns out to be an air hammer]
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