Capitol Police probing report of explosive in truck near Capitol

Investigators were trying to determine whether the man was holding a detonator

A man sitting in a pickup truck outside the Library of Congress told police on August 19 that he had a bomb, prompting a massive law enforcement response to determine whether it was an operable explosive device, people briefed on the matter said. The truck had no license plates, and when law enforcement noticed it in the morning, authorities reported a possible bomb threat over police radios. Investigators were trying to determine whether the man was holding a detonator. They were communicating with him as he wrote notes and showed them to police from inside the truck, according to three people were not authorized to publicly discuss the matter and spoke on condition of anonymity. Police sent snipers to the area near the Capitol and Supreme Court and evacuated multiple buildings on the sprawling Capitol complex. Congress is in recess this week, but staffers were seen calmly walking out of the area at the direction of authorities.