Capitol Police Officer Who Shot Trump Supporter Says It Was 'Last Resort' 

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Capitol Police officer who fatally shot a woman as she tried to force her way into the House of Representatives during the January 6 attack said the shooting was a "last resort" because he believed she posed a threat to members of Congress. 

"I tried to wait as long as I could," police Lieutenant Michael Byrd said in an interview with "NBC Nightly News" that aired Thursday, in what were his first public remarks since the violence.  "I hoped and prayed no one tried to enter through those doors," Byrd said. "But their failure to comply required me to take the appropriate action to save the lives of members of Congress and myself and my fellow officers."  Byrd described the shooting as an act of "last resort" as he spoke publicly three days after a review by the Capitol Police concluded he had acted lawfully and within department policy in shooting the supporter of then-President Donald Trump as she tried to force her way through a smashed window into the House of Representatives' Speaker's Lobby.