Lethal car chase near White House ends with driver's death

Washington: A lethal car chase just steps away from the Capitol Hill and the White House, left a 34-year-old African-American woman dead and two police officers injured. But miraculously, the woman's 19 month old daughter, who was also in the car, was unhurt.

The woman was erratically driving a black Lexus at 85 mph in the most heavily guarded area in United States. She drove into a barricade near the White House at 2:20 pm local time (ET) and hit a police car just a block away from the Capitol. The woman who did not have a gun was fired at by the police at least twice as she refused. Authorities say she was using her 'car as a weapon'. (Pics)

Capitol Hill, where heated arguments on the US government shutdown are taking place, was placed under lock down, and Congress and its staff were asked to remain sheltered.

The woman who is a dental hygienist from Stamford, Connecticut is believed to have a history of mental illness. Her daughter who survived without injury is now in child protective custody.

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The FBI handed over the case to local police, saying it was an 'isolated incident' and 'not linked to terrorism.' Authorities say the incident took place in the outer perimeter of the White House, at the first of many security checks in place to enter the tightly cordoned area.

Questions are now arising if the police fired at the woman knowing a child was in the car, and that the woman herself was unarmed. Her African-American ethnicity and history of mental illness will be a separate storm.

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Washington DC has recently been shaken by the Navy Yard shooting where 12 people were killed by a mentally disturbed gunman. The ongoing government shutdown has left an area, which is otherwise very busy, relatively quiet and with a low morale. Ironically, even the Capitol Hill police which responded immediately are not being paid due to the standoff in Congress.