SUV Drives Into D.C. Office Building, Driver May Have Been Doused In Gasoline, Reports Say (UPDATED)

WASHINGTON -- Police in the nation's capital, along with the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force, investigated an incident where a SUV appeared to have been intentionally driven into a downtown office building Friday night.

WRC-TV/NBC 4 reported:

Sources told News4's Jackie Bensen that the interior of the SUV as well as the driver had been deliberately doused with gasoline.

The FBI and a bomb squad went to the scene.

D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray was also on the scene, Bensen tweeted.

The building in question, according to Bensen, was 1050 Connecticut Ave. NW, a large office block called Washington Square that stretches the length of L Street NW between Connecticut Avenue and 18th Street NW.

The street-level retail includes a Men's Wearhouse, Victoria's Secret, Verizon Wireless, The Art of Shaving and J.R. Cigars. Morton's Steakhouse occupies a second-floor space fronting Connecticut Avenue. The Arent Fox law firm is one of the building's tenants.

Bensen reported during WRC-TV's 11 p.m. newscast that around 7:45 p.m., an SUV drove in between steel bollards that line the sidewalk outside the Washington Square lobby and ended up inside the building.

WJLA-TV/ABC7 reported that the SUV hit an ATM and that the driver was taken to a hospital with minor injuries.

The news station reported that Metropolitan Police Department Chief Cathy Lanier said that the Joint Terrorism Task Force was asked to investigate the situation "out of abundance of caution" because it appeared that the SUV was driven intentionally into the building.

Later, WTOP-FM's Michelle Basch indicated that police believe the SUV had been stolen and that the gas inside the vehicle was from a canister that had "simply been left there by the car's owner."

One of the Farragut North Metrorail station's entrances at L Street NW was closed, but according to a D.C. Alert sent out around 8:45 p.m., Red Line operations were not impacted. Metro reported that other entrances remained open.

Streets adjacent to the office building were closed but were expected to reopen around midnight.

DC Police Department

Update: SB Conn closed at L street, both directions on L street closed/ 4053

Michelle Basch Entrance to Farragut North at Conn + L remains closed, traffic still tied up, but streets should reopen within an hour

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