A man fired a shot out the window of a car being chased by police during the afternoon rush on Tuesday, prompting a lock down of the U.S. Capitol and its office buildings, authorities said.  

Staffers were notified in an email alert of late afternoon police activity in the area, and ordered those inside the Capitol complex to find a safe location.  

Capitol Police did not give a reason for the security step before lifting the restriction and returning the complex to normal operations about 30 minutes later.  

But D.C. Police said officers responded to a report of a man with gun on Capitol Hill. When they arrived, three men sped off in a car. At one point, a suspect in the car fired a shot out the window at police in pursuit.  

No one was hit before the before the car stopped inside a tunnel. Three suspects were taken into custody.  The weapon, an automatic handgun, was recovered in the roadway, D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier said.  

Earlier in the day , Capitol Police evacuated staff from the Ford House Office Building over a suspicious package, later deemed nonhazardous.  

Rema Rahman, John Donnelly, Niels Lesniewski, Bridget Bowman and Lindsey McPherson contributed to this report.

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