On a summer afternoon in Washington, D.C., a day that began like any other for United States Capitol Police Officer Jacob Joseph Chestnut, an African American man, ended in an abrupt and violent tragedy. The 58-year-old male officer was a veteran, not only of the Capitol Police force for 18 years, but also of the U.S. Air Force, having served two tours in the Vietnam War. On July 24, 1998, he was stationed at the Document Door entrance of the U.S. Capitol, a post he knew well.
As he was assisting two tourists with directions, a man named Russell Eugene Weston Jr. approached the security checkpoint.
Weston, a 41-year-old from Montana with a history of mental illness, walked through the metal detector, triggering the alarm. As Officer Chestnut instructed him to go back through, Weston suddenly brandished a. 38 caliber handgun and, without a word, shot Officer Chestnut in the back of the head at point-blank range. The act of sudden violence plunged the Capitol into chaos. Weston then proceeded further into the building, running into a suite of offices used by senior Republican representatives.
Inside one of these offices was Detective John Michael Gibson, another 18-year veteran of the force assigned to the dignitary protection detail of then-House Majority Whip Tom DeLay. Hearing the commotion, Detective Gibson instructed staffers to take cover. When Weston entered the office, a gunfight ensued. Detective Gibson was mortally wounded in the exchange, but not before he managed to shoot and wound Weston, preventing him from causing further harm. A tourist was also injured during the rampage. Both Officer Chestnut and Detective Gibson succumbed to their injuries that day.
Russell Eugene Weston Jr. was apprehended at the scene. He had a known history of mental health issues, including a diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia, and had previously made threats against the President of the United States. Following his arrest, he was charged with the murders of both officers. However, in the legal proceedings that followed, Weston was found to be mentally incompetent to stand trial. He was never convicted for the killings and has since been held in a federal psychiatric facility. The criminal charges against him were suspended but not dismissed.
