The woman killed by police in Washington, D.C. yesterday following a car chase from the White House to the U.S. Capitol underwent a mental-health evaluation last year, CBS reports. As previously noted, 34-year-old Miriam Carey was believed to be suffering from post-partum depression. Her boyfriend contacted police about her condition in December, when she told officers in Connecticut “that she was a prophet, that President Obama would place the city of Stamford under a ‘lockdown,’ and that he had her and her residence under electronic surveillance.”
Despite the incident, she was not known to the Secret Service before yesterday, according to CBS.
CNN reports that investigators found the schizophrenia and bipolar medication Risperidone at Carey’s Stamford apartment, as well as the antidepressant Escitalopram and “a letter addressed to the boyfriend … [that] appeared to contain white powder.”
Still, police continue to search for a motive to explain her trip to Washington and erratic driving yesterday. Mental health issues or not, Carey was unarmed and some have questioned the use of deadly force, while law enforcement has defended its gunfire. “Most police agencies have a policy against opening fire on a moving car; it’s inherently dangerous and usually ineffective,” said CBS’s John Miller. “But this is an issue of context, which is when you’re guarding the Capitol or the White House and someone tries to deliberately ram the barricades and they seem to be trying to get close to the building. This is not your normal traffic chase.”
