{{dablink|This article describes one of two major shooting incidents that have taken place at the U.S. Capitol; the other is described at [[U.S. Capitol shooting incident (1954)]]}} {{Infobox terrorist attack |title = U.S. Capitol shooting incident (1998) |location = [[Washington, D.C.]] |target = [[United States Capitol]] |date = [[July 24]], [[1998]] |type = [[shooting]] |fatalities = 2 |injuries = 2 |perps = Russell Eugene Weston |motive = Mental instability }} [[Image:Chestnut gibson.jpg|thumb|right|Commemorative plaque in the United States Capitol]] The '''United States Capitol shooting incident of 1998''' was an attack on [[July 24]], [[1998]] by Russell Eugene Weston Jr. which led to the death of two [[United States Capitol Police]] officers, Detective John Gibson and Private First Class Jacob Chestnut.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.cnn.com/US/9807/24/dc.shooting.03/ | title = Capitol Police Officers laid to rest in Arlington National Cemetery | publisher = Michael Robert Patterson | accessdate = 2007-01-11}}</ref> Weston, armed with a handgun, entered the Document Door entrance on the [[United States Capitol|East Front of the Capitol]], which is open only to [[Member of Congress|Members of Congress]] and their staff, at 3:40 p.m. Weston reportedly walked around the [[metal detector]] just inside the entrance manned by Chestnut who asked him to go back through the detector.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/longterm/shooting/stories/main072598.htm | title = Gunman Shoots His Way Into Capitol; Two Officers Killed, Suspect Captured | publisher = Washingtonpost.com | accessdate = 2007-01-12}}</ref> Weston suddenly produced the gun and without warning shot Chestnut in the back of the head at point-blank range. Witnesses say he turned down a short corridor and pushed through a door which leads to a group of offices used by senior Republican representatives including [[Party whips of the United States House of Representatives|Majority Whip]] [[Tom DeLay]] and Representative [[Dennis Hastert]], a close [[Mentorship|protégé]] to [[Speaker of the United States House of Representatives|Speaker]] [[Newt Gingrich]].<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.emergency.com/capshoot.htm | title = Attack on Capitol Hill | publisher = EmergencyNet News | accessdate = 2007-01-11}}</ref> Detective Gibson, who was in plainclothes, was shot after the suspect entered the office of Congressman DeLay. Despite being mortally wounded, Detective Gibson was able to return fire and wounded the suspect.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?sec=health&res=9803E5DA1139F936A15754C0A96E958260 | title = Capitol Hill Slayings: The Overview; Gunman Invades Capitol, Killing 2 Guards | publisher = Newyorktimes.com | accessdate = 2007-01-11}}</ref> A female tourist suffered minor injuries after bullets grazed her shoulder and face. A severly wounded Weston was apprehended in the office suite of Congressman Tom DeLay. <ref>[http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4196/is_19980726/ai_n10434376 "Horrifying Capitol ordeal began with officer's execution"]. (July 26, 1998). Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, The.</ref> == After the shooting == [[Image:Jacobchestnut.jpg|thumb|Officer Jacob Chestnut, USCP]] Officers Chestnut and Gibson were the only two people killed in the attack. Following the shooting, both officers received the tribute of [[lying in honor]] at the [[United States Capitol]]. They were the first police officers and Chestnut was the first [[African American]] to receive the honor.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c105:H.R.4347: | title = Authorizing the use of the Rotunda of the Capitol... | publisher = United States Senate | accessdate = 2007-01-11}}</ref> In [[1999]], Weston was found [[incompetence|incompetent]] to stand trial due to mental illness as he was a [[schizophrenic]] who stopped taking his medication.<ref>{{cite web | url= http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/stories/1999/04/22/capitol.shooting/ | title = Weston found incompetent to stand trial for Capitol shooting | publisher = CNN.com | accessdate = 2007-01-11}}</ref> A [[United States District Court|federal judge]] ordered that he be treated with [[antipsychotic drugs|antipsychotic medication]] without his consent in [[2001]], and an [[appellate court]] upheld this decision.<ref>{{cite web | url= http://www.nypress.com/14/29/news&columns/feature.cfm | title= Capitol Shooter Russell Weston, Three Years Later | publisher= New York Press | accessdate= 2007-01-11}}</ref> In [[2004]], the court determined that Weston still was not competent to be tried, despite ongoing treatment, and suspended but did not dismiss the [[Criminal law|criminal]] charges against him. Weston was known to the [[United States Secret Service]] prior to the incident as a person who had threatened the President of the United States.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.cnn.com/US/9807/24/dc.shooting.04/ | title = Capitol shooting suspect was 'low-level threat' to Clinton | publisher = CNN.com | accessdate = 2007-01-11}}</ref> The shooting was cited as one reason for the development of the [[United States Capitol Visitor Center|Capitol Visitors Center]]. The legislation authorizing the construction of the facility was enrolled by [[Washington, D.C.]] [[Delegate (United States Congress)|Delegate]] [[Eleanor Holmes Norton]] and was entitled the ''Jacob Joseph Chestnut-John Michael Gibson United States Capitol Visitor Center Act of 1998''.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c105:H.R.4347: | title = Jacob Joseph Chestnut-John Michael Gibson United States Capitol Visitor Center Act of 1998 (Introduced in House) | publisher = United States House of Representatives | accessdate = 2007-01-11}}</ref> <ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/longterm/shooting/stories/security072698.htm | title = Attack Stirs Interest in Visitors Center | publisher = Washingtonpost.com | accessdate = 2007-01-11}}</ref> == The officers== [[Image:Johngibson.jpg|thumb|Detective John Gibson, USCP]] [[Detective]] '''John Michael Gibson''' ([[March 29]], [[1956]] – [[July 24]], [[1998]]) was a [[United States Capitol Police]] officer assigned to the dignitary protection detail of Congressman [[Tom DeLay]]. He is buried in [[Arlington National Cemetery]] after [[lying in honor]] with Chestnut in the [[U.S. Capitol]]. Detective Gibson had served with the agency for 18 years. He is survived by his wife and three children.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.cnn.com/US/9807/24/dc.shooting.03/ | title = Capitol Police Officers laid to rest in Arlington National Cemetery | publisher = Michael Robert Patterson | accessdate = 2007-01-11}}</ref> Officer '''Jacob Joseph Chestnut''' ([[April 28]], [[1940]] - [[July 24]], [[1998]]), was the first [[African American]] to [[lying in honor|lie in honor]] in the [[U.S. Capitol]]. Chestnut is buried in [[Arlington National Cemetery]]. His funeral included a speech by [[President Bill Clinton]] and a fly-over by military jets in a [[missing man formation]].<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.cnn.com/US/9807/24/dc.shooting.03/ | title = Capitol Police Officers laid to rest in Arlington National Cemetery | publisher = Michael Robert Patterson | accessdate = 2007-01-11}}</ref> In [[2000]], the building housing the [[U.S. Air Force]]'s 20th Security Forces Squadron at [[Shaw Air Force Base]], [[South Carolina]] was dedicated to Officer Chestnut, a former member of the [[Air Force Security Forces]].{{fact}} == The Suspect == The shooter, '''Russell Eugene Weston, Jr.''' was born [[December 28]], [[1956]] and grew up in [[Valmeyer, Illinois|Valmeyer]], [[Illinois]]. A diagnosed paranoid schizophrenic, Weston was fond of hacking at trees which filled his back yard following the [[Great Flood of 1993|Mississippi River floods of 1993]].<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/longterm/shooting/stories/weston081098.htm | title = Before the Shootings, a String of Excesses | publisher = Washingtonpost.com | accessdate = 2007-01-11}}</ref> Many of Weston's neighbors had disliked him, and often ignored him rather than communicate. They considered him to be unusual, and sometimes [[Eccentricity (behavior)|eccentric]]. Weston had once thought that his neighbor was using his [[television]] [[satellite dish]] to spy on his actions. He also believed that [[Navy SEALs]] were hiding in his cornfield. Two days prior to the Capitol shooting, at his grandmother's insistence to do something about the cats nearby because they were becoming a nuisance, Weston shot and killed 14 cats, leaving a couple in a bucket and burying the rest. <ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/longterm/shooting/stories/weston081098.htm | title = Before the Shootings, a String of Excesses | publisher = Washingtonpost.com | accessdate = 2007-01-11}}</ref> Weston had also spent around fifty days in a mental hospital after threatening a [[Montana]] resident. He was released after testing as being of no danger to himself or anyone else.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/longterm/shooting/stories/weston081098.htm | title = Before the Shootings, a String of Excesses | publisher = Washingtonpost.com | accessdate = 2007-01-11}}</ref> ==See also== *[[Lying in state]] *[[U.S. Capitol shooting incident (1954)]] *[[Denis Lortie]] ==References== <references/> ==External Links== *[http://projects.ldc.upenn.edu/TDT2000/topics/completed-research/weston-indictment.html Indictment of Russell Weston Jr. (Capitol Shooter)] *[http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_go2678/is_200204/ai_n6983436 Forcible medication of mentally ill criminal defendants: the case of Russell Eugene Weston, Jr.] *[http://www.cnn.com/US/9807/25/capitol.shooting.04/ Slain Capitol policemen praised as 'American heroes'] *[http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/longterm/shooting/archives2.htm From the Shootings to the Investigation] Washington Post archive. *[http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/longterm/shooting/stories/main072598.htm Shooting at the Capitol] Washington Post description of the shooting. [[Category:Employees of the United States Congress]] [[Category:American police officers killed in the line of duty]] [[Category:American murder victims|Chestnut, Jacob]] [[Category:American murderers|Weston, Russell]] [[Category:Americans who have murdered police officers|Weston, Russell]] {{US-crime-bio-stub}}