U S Capitol shut down after security breach

WASHINGTON, Sep 18 (Reuters) The U S Capitol was shut down today after a man was arrested for racing past security into the building, Capitol police said.

The suspect breached security with his car first and then got out and ran past guards into the building, Sgt Kimberly Schneider said.

The incident happened before the congressional day began and there were no members of Congress in the building at the time.

The incident occurred near a construction site for the new visitors center being build at the Capitol, Schneider said.

His vehicle was being searched for anything suspicious, she said.

Capitol police were searching room by room, hallway by hallway, Eric Ueland, chief of staff for Republican Senate leader Sen. Bill Frist, told CNN.

There have been a string of security alerts involving evacuations of the Capitol and various surrounding office buildings since the Sept. 11 attacks five years ago.

''This individual was apprehended before he could get his way too far in the Capitol and if he intended to do any damage, not be able to follow through on that,'' Ueland said.

A congressional aide said she had received an email from the Capitol Police saying the Capitol building was in ''lock down'' because of a security breach and that no one would be allowed access to the building pending a security sweep.

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