Detonaciones en el Capitolio de EE.UU. fueron de un martillo neumático

WASHINGTON (CNN) — Law-enforcement sources at the Capitol said Friday that suspected sounds of gunshots heard in a House office building were made by a mechanic using a pneumatic hammer on an elevator, security expert Mike Brooks reported.
«It looks like this is going to be the source of the noise that they heard,» Brooks said Friday afternoon.
Nevertheless, police continued a room-by-room search of the Rayburn building, where some members of the House have their offices.
The initial report of «shots fired» led to authorities to lock down the Capitol complex as heavily armed police fanned out to investigate the report.
«At 10:30 this morning, we received a report of shots fired inside the Rayburn garage,» Sgt. Kimberly Schneider, a public information officer for the Capitol Police, said.
Armed officers were searching «the old-fashioned way,» Schneider said, going door-to-door checking the 50 acres of office space in the 169 suites in the building. (Watch lawmaker tell colleagues of gunshot report — 1:03)
CNN’s Brian Todd reported at 1:30 p.m. that law enforcement officials said the search of the Rayburn building was «winding down.»
Earlier, as police searched for the source of the sounds of gunfire, authorities said two women reported a man with a gun inside a Rayburn gym.
A senior law enforcement source told Todd that police were investigating the possibility that the man may have been a plainclothes officer.
A woman was taken by ambulance from the House staff gym to the hospital during the lockdown, said David All, a spokesman for Rep. Jack Kingston, R-Georgia.
«She was not injured or shot, just a little shaken up under the circumstances,» All said. The woman was released from the hospital Friday afternoon, according to the congressman’s blog.
Parts of the Capitol complex, including the Capitol itself, were locked down during the height of the search.
The Capitol was reopened by 12:45 p.m., but the Rayburn building was still locked down in mid-afternoon.
Business continued as usual on the Senate side, CNN’s Dana Bash said. (Capitol area)
The initial alert Friday morning came moments after a press conference held by Rep. John Sensenbrenner on immigration, CNN producer Deidre Walsh said.
«We saw several Capitol Hill police officers running quickly down the hallway,» she said. Soon after that an announcement was made throughout the building.
‘No one’s panicking’
Rep. Peter Hoekstra, R-Michigan, was conducting a House Intelligence Committee hearing at the time.
Hoekstra interrupted a witness to tell those at the hearing to remain in the room and said doors must be closed.
«It’s a little unsettling to get a Blackberry message put in front of you that says there’s gunfire in the building,» he said.
«They said they heard gunfire in the Rayburn garage, but this is a huge building, I’m guessing it’s a car backfiring or balloons popping,» Gene Smith, chief of staff to Rep. Howard Berman, D-California, told The Associated Press. Berman has an office in Rayburn.
Rayburn halls were virtually empty and police were not allowing anyone to leave or take elevators or stairs to the garage, the AP reported.
«No one’s panicking, everyone’s calm,» Charles Isom, spokesman for Rep. Chris Cannon, R-Utah, told AP. «It did ruin some people’s lunch plans.»

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