Washington (CNN) — Authorities investigating why a Connecticut woman rammed barricades and led police on a chase near the U.S. Capitol found medications in her apartment to treat schizophrenia and other mental disorders, a law enforcement source briefed on the investigation said Friday.
The woman, identified by law enforcement sources as Miriam Carey, 34, died after police shot her.
The discovery of the psychiatric medications comes a day after Carey’s boyfriend had told police in December that she appeared to be delusional, believing that President Barack Obama had placed Stamford, Connecticut, where they lived, under lockdown and that her home was under electronic surveillance, a law enforcement source involved in the investigation said.
Thursday’s incident played out in one of the most heavily policed places in the world, temporarily locked down Congress and sparked anxiety among tourists and staffers alike.
Police say Carey rammed barricades and police cruisers — actions Washington police Chief Cathy Lanier said appeared deliberate — and sped down Pennsylvania Avenue before crashing. Two law enforcement officers were injured, and officers shot her to end the incident.
Carey apparently did not have a weapon, but did have a 1-year-old girl in the car with her. The child emerged from the chaos unharmed, officials said.
Authorities who searched Carey’s apartment in Stamford found risperidone, a medication to treat schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, a law enforcement source said. They also found escitalopram, an antidepressant commonly prescribed under the brand name Lexapro, according to the source.
It was not known if she was taking any of the medications, and authorities have not officially linked the incident to mental illness or any other factor.
According to Xavier Amador, a psychologist and expert in schizophrenia and other mental health disorders, it is possible the medications were prescribed for postpartum psychosis, a rare illness that usually comes on suddenly within the first four weeks after birth.
Carey’s boyfriend contacted police last winter, when their child was four months old, according to the law enforcement source who told CNN about the boyfriend’s reports to police.
He told police that she was suffering from post-partum depression, was having trouble sleeping and was on medication. Carey underwent a mental health evaluation, said the source, who added that the boyfriend has been questioned by federal authorities about Thursday’s events.
The source told CNN that Carey left a letter addressed to the boyfriend at her apartment and that it appeared to contain white powder. The letter was being tested for hazardous substances.
A car chase, gunshots
Thursday’s drama began around 2 p.m., when the woman steered a black Infiniti near the White House, a U.S. Secret Service source said. She drove up to a barrier at the 15th and E street checkpoint and was approached by Secret Service officers. She hurriedly made an erratic three-point turn, striking the barrier and backing into an officer before driving away, the source told CNN.
Police said the car sped down Pennsylvania Avenue toward the Capitol, where security vehicles stopped it at Garfield Circle.
The woman slammed the car into reverse, crashing into a police cruiser, and tried to get away. At that point officers began firing, a witness said.
Dramatic video footage by a videographer for Alhurra TV, a Middle Eastern news outlet financed by the U.S. government, showed the black vehicle then speeding around a nearby traffic circle with a police car in close pursuit and then heading away. The car crashed into more security barriers a few blocks later, witnesses said.
More shots were fired after the vehicle stopped, and the woman was hit several times, said Metropolitan Police Department Chief Cathy Lanier. Carey was later pronounced dead, Lanier said. Two officers were injured.
A Capitol Police officer whose vehicle crashed during the chase was hurt, authorities said. The officer was released from a hospital Thursday night. The Secret Service did not release information about its injured agent.
Read the full story on CNN
