Capitol Shootout
U.S.Capitol Police surround a car with their guns drawn at the corner of Pennsylvania Avenue and 1st Street, northwest in this framegrab from Alhurra TV video taken just before a shooting in Washington, on Oct. 3, 2013. Reuters/Alhurra/Handout
Miriam Carey
Miriam Carey (right), is the woman identified in news reports as the suspect in a shooting incident that left Capitol Hill on lockdown for a brief period Thursday afternoon, and has now reportedly been shot dead by police. This photo is from a newsletter announcing her having been hired as a hygenist at a Connecticut periodontics practice. Advanced Periodontics

Here's what we know about Miriam Carey, the woman identified in news reports as the suspect in a shooting incident that left Capitol Hill on lockdown for a brief period Thursday afternoon, and has now reportedly been shot dead by police.

According to the New York Post and the New Haven Register newspapers, Carey, a 34-year-old dental hygenist, was involved in the episode that began when she allegedly rammed her black Infiniti luxury sedan into a barricade near the White House. The incident ended when Carey led police on a high-speed car chase towards the U.S. Capitol. After repeatedly warning Carey to stop and get out of her car, the Capitol Police shot and killed her.

The altercation led to the U.S. Capitol being locked down for a brief period of time after shots rang out near Garfield Circle, in the vicinity of the Hart Senate Office Building.

Carey, who has ties to both Stamford, Conn., and Brooklyn, N.Y., hails from a condominium complex in Stamford called Woodside Green, according to the Register, and was permitted to work as a hygenist in Connecticut prisons, the Post reported.

ABC News reported that Carey had "a history of mental health issues."