Capitol Police deployed a barricade early this morning when a truck entered a restricted zone near the Capitol.

The commercial truck entered the zone just before 7 a.m., according to Sgt. Kimberly Schneider, a spokeswoman for the Capitol Police. Officers stopped the truck as it was traveling eastbound on Independence Avenue Southwest, near Washington Avenue and First Street, Schneider said.

Officers then questioned the driver of the truck, who was not immediately identified, and found him not to be a threat.

“There was no intent to injure anyone,” Schneider said. “It was just an accident.”

The driver was the only person in the truck, Schneider added.

House Sergeant-at-Arms Bill Livingood commended the Capitol Police for their actions, saying that the force has done “an outstanding job” designing and implementing measures to protect the Capitol campus while also leaving it open to visitors as much as possible.

“However, it is in the preparation and actual training in the use of the systems that ultimately will prove any system’s worth,” Livingood added. “Today, everything came together. The system works and it works well.”

— Elizabeth Brotherton