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Man Who Claimed To Have A Bomb Near The U.S. Capitol Surrenders

A police vehicle moves into an area near the U.S. Capitol and a Library of Congress building in Washington on Aug. 19, 2021, as law enforcement officials investigate a report of a pickup truck containing an explosive device.
A police vehicle moves into an area near the U.S. Capitol and a Library of Congress building in Washington on Aug. 19, 2021, as law enforcement officials investigate a report of a pickup truck containing an explosive device.

U.S. Capitol Police say they are negotiating with a man who said he had a bomb in his truck near the Library of Congress, across from the U.S. Capitol.

U.S. Capitol Police Chief J. Thomas Manger told reporters that the man drove a black pick up truck onto the sidewalk in front of the library's Jefferson building at 9:15 a.m., and told an officer that he had a bomb. The officer said the man had what appeared to be a detonator in his hand.

Manger said negotiations with the man are ongoing.

"My negotiators are hard at work to try to have a peaceful resolution to this incident," he said.

Manger said police don't know what his motives are but they do have "a possible name."

Several streets in the area have been closed, as well as nearby buildings of the library, the U.S. Supreme Court and Congress. The FBI says its Washington field office is responding along with agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

Washington's transit agency says subway trains are bypassing the nearby Capitol South station.

Neither the House nor the Senate is in session, and most lawmakers are not in their offices.

This is a developing story.

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

NPR News' Brian Naylor is a correspondent on the Washington Desk. In this role, he covers politics and federal agencies.