‘Isolated Incident’ in D.C. Today
UPDATE: Connecticut Woman ‘Had a History of Mental Health Issues’

Posted on | October 3, 2013 | 175 Comments

Consider this just a place-holder post, really. Some crazy lady went on a vehicular rampage in Washington, D.C., today. She reportedly tried to ram the gates at the White House, then led cops on a chase to Capitol Hill, where she rammed a police car before finally being shot to death. She reportedly had a child in the car with her, and the child was unharmed.

Who was this woman? What was her motive?
this point, I have no clue and don’t want to speculate.

Ace of Spades notices the New York Times trying to connect this incident to the “fiscal crisis,” but it’s silly to imagine that every kook who goes berserk is responding to political events. When I flipped out on psilocybin in 1979, you couldn’t blame the Carter administration.

Becca Lower points out that liberals are blaming this on the government shutdown, as if cops had been furloughed, which they haven’t.

Police are calling it an “isolated incident,” which means it’s likely just a nutjob, and I haven’t seen any headlines yet to suggest a political motive. Rather than try to start speculating or playing the blame game, I’ll just wait for updates. Please link any relevant reports in the comments, or hit me up on Twitter if there’s important developments.

Remember something I’ve said before: Until they ID the suspect, there’s no way to know the motive. Just chill for a bit, and we’ll see.

UPDATE: Well, this didn’t take very long:

A dental hygienist from Connecticut was the female driver who tried to ram her car into a White House barricade and was shot dead near the US Capitol after a high-speed chase through Washington streets Thursday afternoon, law enforcement sources told The Post.
Sources said Miriam Carey, who formerly lived in Brooklyn, was licensed to practice in New York and Connecticut and had a permit to work as a hygienist in Connecticut prisons. . . .
ABC News said the 34-year-old woman had a history of mental health issues. A task force of FBI and Secret Service agents was executing a search warrant at her Connecticut home, CNN said.

Just a crazy woman. Anybody got a photo yet?

(Hat-tip: Mary Fernandez on Twitter.)

UPDATE II: Photo of the deceased perp, Miriam Carey:

UPDATE III: Daily Caller has the liberal ghoul round-up:

Should I have held my tongue? I couldn’t resist:

.@PariahSickKid71 Actually, douchebag,, the only person shot was a black woman. http://t.co/Unx49GQ0N7

— Robert Stacy McCain (@rsmccain) October 3, 2013

UPDATE IV: Ace gets pretty brutal here. The, uh, demographic factors are being referenced. As soon as “Capitol shooting” made the headlines, some people imagined this had to be a story about a right-wing Tea Party gun nut. If that had been the case, this story would have gotten wall-to-wall coverage for weeks. Morning Joe would have been a three-hour telethon for gun control Friday morning. Chris Matthews and Piers Morgan would have been blaming the NRA.

But no, it’s just a crazy woman in a car who got shot by the cops, and the media will decide this is not an important story. Move along.

Category: Crime

Comments

175 Responses to “‘Isolated Incident’ in D.C. Today
UPDATE: Connecticut Woman ‘Had a History of Mental Health Issues’”

America Has Spoken
October 3rd, 2013 @ 9:33 pm

So I suppose this proves that black women can now be legally hunted down in DC or something.
Max Artifice
October 3rd, 2013 @ 9:37 pm

The cops that killed her were Tea Party members and they offed her because she was black. And voted for Obama. And speeding.

Obvious profiling.
Max Artifice
October 3rd, 2013 @ 9:40 pm

If Trayvon had a dental hygienist she would look just like Miriam Carey. Or Obama’s future grown up daughter. Or something.
Press Watchusa
October 3rd, 2013 @ 9:45 pm

I heard she was DRIVING an …AR-15!
(made by Tesla)
Press Watchusa
October 3rd, 2013 @ 9:47 pm

She’s the elderly white lady?
dlortner
October 3rd, 2013 @ 9:52 pm

@rzimmermanjr RT@rsmccain: UPDATE: Photo of D.C. rampage driver, Miriam Carey http://t.co/ZlBa7oCZBu
boozy
October 3rd, 2013 @ 9:54 pm

wonder if it only a isolated incodence because of race..makes you wonder…if it was a white guy or girl they could tie to the tea party, this would be going on for months…
joe from nola
October 3rd, 2013 @ 9:55 pm

An ar-15 shotgun is what I heard
rsmccain
October 3rd, 2013 @ 9:55 pm

RT @dlortner: @rzimmermanjr RT@rsmccain: UPDATE: Photo of D.C. rampage driver, Miriam Carey http://t.co/ZlBa7oCZBu
AmPowerBlog
October 3rd, 2013 @ 9:55 pm

RT @dlortner: @rzimmermanjr RT@rsmccain: UPDATE: Photo of D.C. rampage driver, Miriam Carey http://t.co/ZlBa7oCZBu
sarah wells
October 3rd, 2013 @ 9:58 pm

Wapo has the most biographical info on her I’ve seen. The only thing even hinting at mental illness so far (besides today’s events and statements about her history) is a friend’s description of her giving an impression of “arrogance” and having few friends.

That is common enough personality feature, but happens to also be a trait that is notably typical in some paranoid disorders. I guess we’ll find out her real history later.
ThomasD
October 3rd, 2013 @ 9:58 pm

You have to be kidding. I too was concerned that the cops might have been overly aggressive with their use of force, but watching the video I’m absolutely impressed with their bravery and the restraint they displayed while she was in front of the White House.

And disabling a car is nowhere near easy or reliably effective, particularly with handguns, which are all but worthless against the engine and steel belted tires.
KonaSky
October 3rd, 2013 @ 10:02 pm

D.C. dead woman MIRIAM CAREY had history of mental illness.
Sad ending http://t.co/UZNcvcldBL
@MaryFernandez http://t.co/qFPYtu4wGC
sardiverdave
October 3rd, 2013 @ 10:04 pm

And I hate to say it, but the kid is probably safer now.
craig
October 3rd, 2013 @ 10:04 pm

106%, in some precincts.
CPAguy
October 3rd, 2013 @ 10:07 pm

Watch that video….they had plenty of opportunities to disable that vehicle….the standard tactic of every other police department in the nation when confronted with crazy drivers.

I bet you most of those officers are thinking the same thing right now….

They killed an unarmed crazy lady with a young child. A disabled car and some zoloft would have solved that problem a lot cleaner.

That is not to say that they weren’t justified in their actions.
rmnixondeceased
October 3rd, 2013 @ 10:10 pm

Using this Glock executon style …
tdpwells
October 3rd, 2013 @ 10:11 pm

‘Isolated Incident’ in D.C. Today br /UPDATE: Connecticut Woman ‘Had a History of Mental Health Issues’ http://t.co/rN1HKlnhnZ
rmnixondeceased
October 3rd, 2013 @ 10:14 pm

A lovely pair of progressive mothers …
Julie Pascal
October 3rd, 2013 @ 10:17 pm

Very sad. Too bad life doesn’t promise us all a chance for a do-over when things go spectacularly bad.
rmnixondeceased
October 3rd, 2013 @ 10:18 pm

He’s crazy for and because of women.
katadams14
October 3rd, 2013 @ 10:18 pm

RT @BeccaJLower: Breaking: Updated: Photo/ID of woman in today’s D.C. car chase incident http://t.co/00kHY1sH7l via @rsmccain Plz RT! #tco…
JerseyJoe74
October 3rd, 2013 @ 10:29 pm

‘Isolated Incident’ in D.C. Today br /UPDATE: Connecticut Woman ‘Had a History of Mental Health Issues’ http://t.co/hCccJ8FEzv
Dems Lie: Capitol Hill Police are Getting Paid During #GovernmentShutdown - Lowering the Boom
October 3rd, 2013 @ 10:36 pm

[…] Thanks for the linkage, The Other […]
Josh_Painter
October 3rd, 2013 @ 10:49 pm

RT @dlortner: @rzimmermanjr RT@rsmccain: UPDATE: Photo of D.C. rampage driver, Miriam Carey http://t.co/ZlBa7oCZBu
ConserAnimal
October 3rd, 2013 @ 10:52 pm

‘Isolated Incident’ in D.C. Today UPDATE: Connecticut Woman ‘Had a History of Mental Health Issues’ http://t.co/a9MaHvzmy9 via @rsmccain
Ethan Eilar
October 3rd, 2013 @ 10:54 pm

What idiot would think it was a Tea party member? If someone was shooting up the capitol during a shutdown, wouldn’t you think it would be someone who was upset by the shutdown? Shutting down part of the government is every Tea party member’s dream. Why would they screw it up?
Gook Le'
October 3rd, 2013 @ 11:08 pm

The type of idiot that would re-elect the goof in the white house!
Gook Le'
October 3rd, 2013 @ 11:12 pm

With ‘cop killer’ lazerbeam headlights!
Gook Le'
October 3rd, 2013 @ 11:17 pm

On the CNN website, they have video footage provided by -get this- an Arabic News Station! HILARIOUS!!! Only in Omerica!
PJ
October 3rd, 2013 @ 11:20 pm

“When I flipped out on psilocybin in 1979, you couldn’t blame the Carter administration.”
LOL. Why not? His whole term was a bummer. Obviously ruined your high.
cwon1
October 3rd, 2013 @ 11:44 pm

Have Rush Limbaugh and Sarah Palin been cleared yet?
cwon1
October 3rd, 2013 @ 11:46 pm

“Crazy” is often media code for “left-wing”, Unabomber, Lee Harvey, Jim Jones to name a few.
keller23
October 3rd, 2013 @ 11:57 pm

The left is sad about this….they were so hoping the shooter was a white middle aged man. But alas it’s a single black woman. Meme falls apart.
Juliette Akinyi Ochieng
October 4th, 2013 @ 12:42 am

Poor woman.
bobintx
October 4th, 2013 @ 12:56 am

How is it possible that less than 2 hours after Ms. Carey was killed by the police (FBI/Secret Service?) ABC News was releasing information about her psychiatric history — this is supposed to be protected health information.
Is it just possible that she was depressed (post-partum depression according to her mother), took a wrong turn and was confronted by the police, then panicked and drove off.
The sad part is that the person who could answer that question definitively is dead and her infant child now has no mother.
bobintx
October 4th, 2013 @ 12:58 am

paging Al and Jesse…paging Al and Jesse…
bobintx
October 4th, 2013 @ 1:02 am

Juliette,
I agree, also feel sorry for an infant who has lost her mother.
jakee308
October 4th, 2013 @ 1:02 am

“When I flipped out on psilocybin in 1979, you couldn’t blame the Carter administration.”

Well . . .

Maybe.
jakee308
October 4th, 2013 @ 1:04 am

Would you even still be standing if you fired that thing?

You’d at least have a broken wrist.
Unix-Jedi
October 4th, 2013 @ 1:04 am

They killed an unarmed crazy lady

.. Who was driving a 3500 pound weapon. Dangerously. Trying to drive over people.

She was certainly “armed”.
Juliette Akinyi Ochieng
October 4th, 2013 @ 1:07 am

ABC reports that Ms. Carey suffered from post-partum depression. According to her mother, she had been hospitalized for it.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/miriam-carey-capitol-suspect-suffered-post-partum-depression/story?id=20465157
K-Bob
October 4th, 2013 @ 1:24 am

This is really impeding my urge to rush to judgement, Stacy. Why are you impeding my rush to judgement?
K-Bob
October 4th, 2013 @ 1:25 am

You mean like getting a second chance at a plea bargain after blowing the first chance and going to jail?
K-Bob
October 4th, 2013 @ 1:27 am

Worse, the media is now reporting the the ammunition fired by this AR-15 shotgun is actually little AR-15’s.
K-Bob
October 4th, 2013 @ 1:28 am

Your nose would soften the recoil impact on your wrist.
Julie Pascal
October 4th, 2013 @ 1:38 am

Heh. Sort of like that. There’s an element of cosmic unfairness that someone who’s problems are self-inflicted, repeatedly, gets do-overs, and someone else who might probably have gotten better won’t get a chance.

It’s sad enough when it’s someone making a really bad choice with permanent consequences, but when it’s likely a temporary freak-out because she was *ill*… that’s just tragic. Might be ultimately unavoidable and still be what we’d call “senseless.”
Julie Pascal
October 4th, 2013 @ 1:40 am

That’s terrible. Gawd, and that poor little girl.
Finrod Felagund
October 4th, 2013 @ 1:40 am

Yep. I’ve seen Little Shop Of Horrors.
Kirby McCain
October 4th, 2013 @ 2:28 am

Yes it’s true crazy women have nice knockers.