5 Oct 2013

Woman shot in Washington DC 'delusional'

8:54 pm on 5 October 2013

An investigation is under way after a police chase through the heart of Washington DC ended with an unarmed woman shot dead and two officers hurt.

The woman identified as Miriam Carey, 34, of Stamford, Connecticut, had a one-year-old girl in the car. She was unharmed.

Authorities have searched a home in Stamford believed to be Ms Carey's, the BBC reports.

On Thursday, police said she attempted to bypass a security gate at the White House, and officers opened fire as she sped off towards Capitol Hill.

A US law enforcement official says Ms Carey held the delusional belief that President Barack Obama was communicating with her.

Her mother, Idella Carey, told reporters on Friday her daughter suffered post-partum depression after the birth of her daughter last August.

"A few months later, she got sick. She was depressed... She was hospitalised," she said.

Footage showed the car at one point surrounded by police but the driver managed to escape, speeding around a roundabout.

Images showed police pointing guns at the car before the driver rammed a Secret Service vehicle and carried on driving.

Metropolitan police Chief Cathy Lanier told reporters that officers later shot and killed the woman on a nearby street.