Live Radio
Home » Photo Galleries » Remembering the '98 Capitol…
This article is about 7 years old

Remembering the ’98 Capitol shooting (Photos)

Will Vitka | will.vitka@wtop.com

July 24, 2018, 8:02 AM

WASHINGTON — Twenty years ago, on July 24, 1998, a gunman burst into the U.S. Capitol, killing two police officers and wounding a female tourist before being shot and captured.

The shooter, Russell Eugene Weston Jr., is still being held in a federal mental facility for paranoid schizophrenia.

Officer Jacob Chestnut and Detective John Gibson were the men killed by Weston. Chestnut was killed instantly and Gibson died later during surgery at George Washington University Hospital.

Both officers were laid in honor in the U.S. Capitol rotunda.

Chestnut was the first African American to receive the honor.

See photos below.

An unidentified victim is rushed to a helicopter on Capitol Hill Friday, July 24, 1998 in Washington. Two policemen, a female tourist and a suspected gunman were wounded late Friday afternoon in an exchange of gunfire inside the Capitol at the office of Rep. Tom DeLay, R-Texas, officials said. The shootings on the first floor of the Capitol building occurred about 3:40 p.m. EDT, with the House in session and the Senate just finished for the day. The historic white-domed building was filled with tourists. (AP Photo/Joe Marquette)
An unidentified victim is rushed to a helicopter on Capitol Hill Friday, July 24, 1998 in Washington. Two policemen, a female tourist and a suspected gunman were wounded late Friday afternoon in an exchange of gunfire inside the Capitol at the office of Rep. Tom DeLay, R-Texas, officials said. The shootings on the first floor of the Capitol building occurred about 3:40 p.m. EDT, with the House in session and the Senate just finished for the day. The historic white-domed building was filled with tourists. (AP Photo/Joe Marquette)
AP Photo/Joe Marquette
(1/18)
An unidentified victim is rushed to a helicopter on Capitol Hill Friday, July 24, 1998 in Washington. Two policemen, a female tourist and a suspected gunman were wounded late Friday afternoon in an exchange of gunfire inside the Capitol at the office of Rep. Tom DeLay, R-Texas, officials said. The shootings on the first floor of the Capitol building occurred about 3:40 p.m. EDT, with the House in session and the Senate just finished for the day. The historic white-domed building was filled with tourists. (AP Photo/Joe Marquette)
A U.S. Park Police helicopter lifts off from the grounds of the Capitol in Washington, D.C. on Friday, July 24, 1998. Two policemen, a female tourist and a suspected gunman were wounded in an exchange of gunfire after a gunman opened fire inside the Capitol building. (AP Photo/Khue Bui)
A flag flies at half-staff on Capitol Hill Friday, July 24, 1998 in honor of two Capitol police officers who were killed in a furious exchange of gunfire after a gunman burst through security barriers. A woman tourist was also seriously wounded in the incident and hospitalized for her injuries. (AP Photo/Doug Mills)
House Speaker Newt Gingrich speaks during a weekly GOP radio address in his Capitol office Saturday, July 25, 1998, in Washington. With a tear running down his right cheek, Gingrich bowed his head in prayer. "Please help this country learn to live with its freedom," he said. Investigators are trying to learn how and why the gunman stormed the Capitol building filled with lawmakers and tourists, and opened fire before being shot and captured. A tourist was wounded in the fire fight. (AP Photo/Harry Hamburg, Pool)
A Capitol Hill police officer stands watch in front of the U. S. Capitol Sunday, July 26, 1998 in Washington as visitors wait to enter the building. Two officers were killed and a tourist wounded during a brief shooting spree in the building on Friday, July 24, 1998. The tourist has been released from the hospital and the suspect in the shootings remains hospitalized in serious condition after being shot by police. (AP Photo/Khue Bui)
Capitol police officer Heidi Milhan, left, is comforted by an unidentified Capitol Hill visitor near flowers placed on the steps of the Capitol Monday, July 27,1998, in honor of two Capitol police officers who were shot and killed. (AP Photo/Khue Bui)
President Clinton, Sen. Pete Domenici, R-NM, left, and Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-NM, right, bow their heads during a moment of silence in honor of the two policemen killed in the Capitol shooting before the start of the third national ``town hall'' on Social Security reform at the University of New Mexico Monday, July 27, 1998 in Albuquerque, N.M. (AP Photo/Greg Gibson)

Will Vitka

William Vitka is a Digital Writer/Editor for WTOP.com. He's been in the news industry for over a decade. Before joining WTOP, he worked for CBS News, Stuff Magazine, The New York Post and wrote a variety of books—about a dozen of them, with more to come.

will.vitka@wtop.com

Related News

Recommended

Federal News Network Logo
Log in to your WTOP account for notifications and alerts customized for you.

Sign up