Woman reportedly shot at Capitol, protesters hold 'armed standoff' with police at House chamber door

Kathryn Krawczyk

People trying to overtake the Capitol building forced senators and House members into hiding on Wednesday.

Both the House and Senate's debates over opposition to electoral votes for President-elect Joe Biden were halted Wednesday when Trump supporters, some of them seemingly armed, broke into the Capitol. The protesters broke glass doors and pushed past security guards, eventually making it into the congressional chambers and offices.

After filling the halls waving Trump and Confederate flags, some members of the mob broke the glass on the doors to the House chamber. Reporters said there was an "armed standoff" at the doors between police and insurgents. Some protesters eventually made it to the Senate floor; some seemingly did so by jumping down from the viewing gallery above. One protester took the presiding officer's chair, yelling "Trump won that election."

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy later confirmed to PBS News that shots were fired inside the Capitol and that someone had been injured. Paramedics were seen taking someone out of the building on a stretcher. CNN reported a woman had been shot at the Capitol and was in critical condition.

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