Lawmakers, police mark 2-year anniversary of Capitol Hill shootings

By CNN Producer Ted Barrett

July 24, 2000
Web posted at: 3:27 p.m. EDT (1927 GMT)

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Lawmakers, police officers and other members of the Capitol Hill community will pause from their duties for a moment of silence in honor of the two Capitol Hill police officers killed by a gunman on this day two years ago.

A Monday afternoon ceremony is scheduled in the Capitol Rotunda to mark the exact time Officer Jacob J. Chestnut and Detective John M. Gibson were gunned down at a main entrance to the Capitol. Both the House and Senate chambers will stop floor action at that time to mark the somber occasion.

Russell Weston is accused of shooting two Capitol Hill police officers in 1998.

The man accused of the shootings, Russell Weston, is a diagnosed paranoid schizophrenic who has yet to stand trial as court officials attempt to determine his mental fitness.

Weston was seriously injured in the attack by police returning fire. During his recovery, Weston told a government psychiatrist he attacked the officers because he believed they were cannibals.

Last September, a federal judge ruled that Weston could be given anti-psychotic drugs against his will in order to make him fit to stand trial. Defense lawyers had accused the government of wanting to restore Weston to competency to start a process that could lead to his execution.

Since the attack, Congress has moved forward with plans to increase security at the Capitol by approving the building of a multi-million dollar highly secure underground visitors center and by hiring additional officers.

Other changes include new magnetometers at entrances, where two officers are now posted instead of one. Capitol police patrol cars have also been outfitted with night-vision systems.