An 18-year-old Georgia man wielding a loaded shotgun was arrested on the steps of the US Capitol Tuesday in a frightening incident coming just days before President Trump’s State of the Union address.
Carter Camacho of Smyrna, Georgia, was wearing a tactical vest and gloves and carrying additional rounds of ammunition as he ran “several hundred yards” from where he parked a white Mercedes-Benz SUV near the west side of the Capitol Building before he was apprehended, according to Capitol Police Chief Michael Sullivan.
A kevlar helmet was also found in Camacho’s car.
“Capitol police officers observed this individual, challenged him and ordered him to drop the weapon and get on ground which he did comply with,” Sullivan said at a press conference. “He was then taken into custody.”
Camacho was not known to Capitol Police and his motive remains unclear, according to the chief.
“Who knows what could have happened if we hadn’t had officers here standing guard, like they do every single day,” Sullivan noted.
Capitol Police had participated in an “active shooter exercise” in the “same spot” where Tuesday’s incident unfolded just a few months earlier, according to the chief.
“We do those active shooter exercises every single month – and that’s why we do it,” Sullivan said.
Trump is scheduled to appear at the US Capitol next Tuesday night to deliver his annual State of the Union address to Congress.
The police chief said the incident will not impact the high-profile gathering of lawmakers, Supreme Court justices and administration and military officials.
“We take the State of the Union very, very seriously and this doesn’t change our posture,” Sullivan told reporters “We’ll be prepared on State of the Union night.”
Capitol Police released a report late last month noting that in 2025 — for the third year in a row — threats against congressional lawmakers increased.
The department investigated 14,938 concerning statements, behaviors and communications directed against members of Congress, their families, staff and the Capitol Complex last year.
