Posted on 07/21/2008 5:38:02 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
An unidentified Chinese man has been threatening to jump from the seventh floor of the Senate Hart Office Building's inner atrium since around 5:45 p.m., according to U.S. Capitol Police.
Police negotiators are conversing with the man through a Chinese translator and are attempting to coax him off of the shallow ledge on the outside of the glass wall overlooking the office building’s atrium.
“We don’t know very much right now,” said Senate Sergeant at Arms Terrance Gainer. “We don’t know what his issue is or what office he visited. The police are trying to calm the situation and see if we can get him on the right side of the rail.”
Police and fire department officials are working to put safety apparatuses in place, such as a safety net or an inflatable jump pad, in the event that he decides to jump, said Gainer.
“Hopefully it won’t come to that,” he added.
Police have dealt with the man previously, said Gainer, who declined to comment further until the situation was resolved.
Police have closed the atrium but have not called for an evacuation.
Fourteen senators have offices on the seventh floor, including Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.).
I guess that the stench was just too much for this Chinese tourist.
Hard to believe they haven’t tasered him already.
Cindy Sheehan?
Haven’t heard much from her lately.
If he screws up rush hour tomorrow morning I’ll throw the SOB off there!
Some here might remember the dude that closed the beltway when he threatened to jump from the Wilson bridge.
People were stuck on the belt for hours. A local radio station was doing some interviews with motorists stuck on the belt.
Almost everyone interviewed wanted the cops to shoot the stupid bas&^%$. Little old ladies were throwing language around that even surprised me. One asked for the use of a cop’s gun and said she would shoot the SOB herself.
I learned at that time that you should never mess with a stressed Washington commuter.
Decoy? Test ?
Did he jump?
So tired of these 15 minute types.
Jump, then Jump, move on.
Too bad it wasn’t a Senator.
But, ya looked, didn't ya?
Hey jump! Jump!
If he fell out of the atrium at the Hart building wouldn’t he just fall into a ventricle?
“Well they always jump. I got news for ya. its a little secret from the trade — They all jump.”—Max Berman
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