The man who drove his car into two U.S. Capitol Police officers standing in front of a steel barricade on Friday was shot and killed by a third officer after he climbed out of his car wielding a knife, D.C. police said Monday. One of the two officers died of his injuries, and the other was released from a hospital on Saturday.
The police news release made clear that William “Billy” Evans, an 18-year veteran of the Capitol Police, and a second officer whose name has not been released, were not stabbed by their assailant and did not fire their weapons. The police formally confirmed Monday that Noah Green, 25, was the driver who rammed the two officers and then was shot dead.
Green’s family had expressed sympathy for the two officers, and said he was suffering from “depression and potential mental illness.”
About 90 minutes before the attack, Green had purchased a knife from a shop in D.C.’s Union Market, the shop’s owner told The Washington Post. The shop owner said the knife matches the one shown in a photo police released of the knife wielded by Green.
The knife cost $300 and was sold by District Cutlery, shop owner Derek Swanson said Sunday. Swanson had video footage showing Green moving from cabinet to cabinet examining the knives.
Green chose the Kurosaki Shizuku Sujihiki Slicing Knife, which Swanson described as typically used for culinary activities such as cutting a Thanksgiving turkey. The knife, Swanson said, could have inflicted harm on one person but may have broken during the stabbing or soon after.
“It’s a delicate knife,” Swanson said. “It never occurred to me how intimidating it might be to someone who didn’t know what it was.” He added that the only longer knives are machetes or garden tools.
Green appeared calm while perusing the shop, dressed in a white sweatshirt, jeans and a blue surgical mask, according to the video and Swanson. He did not interact with the District Cutlery staff until the end of his visit, when he appeared to ask an employee to ring him up. A D.C. flag hung above the cashier.
He paid with a credit card and left the store at 11:28 a.m., Swanson said, 22 minutes after arriving and about 90 minutes before he would attack the two Capitol Police officers.
Swanson said nothing struck him as unusual about Green. He said he only found out about the connection when the FBI showed up at his store on Saturday, and he said he provided them with a credit card receipt for the knife purchase.
In a statement, Green’s family said he “was not a terrorist by any means.” They said he began to “experience hardships” after his graduation from Christopher Newport University and that they were shocked by his actions.
Evans, 41, was the second Capitol Police officer to die in the line of duty this year. Officer Brian D. Sicknick died after fighting with rioters at the Capitol on Jan. 6, though no formal cause of death has yet been released. Two men have been charged with assaulting Sicknick.
In a news release Monday, the D.C. police provided an updated timeline of the attack, saying that Green drove his blue sedan into the gate at Constitution and Delaware avenues just after 1 p.m. Friday and intentionally struck the two officers, then rammed his car into the steel barricade.
Capitol Police said Monday that officers at such gates “are responsible for screening the vehicle and engaging vehicle occupants to confirm they are authorized to cross the barrier. These tasks require officers, at times, to be outside of the barriers.”
After ramming the barricade, Green exited his car armed with the knife “and charged toward another U.S. Capitol Police officer,” D.C. police said. “The officer discharged their service weapon striking the suspect.”
Rather than wait for an ambulance or helicopter, Capitol Police officers took Evans to a hospital in one of their cruisers, D.C. police said. Evans died at the hospital.
Peter Hermann contributed to this report.
