Security cameras for the Pelosi home weren’t ‘actively monitored,’ Capitol Police admit
Updated at 8:37 p.m. ET.
There’s a lot of conflicting information about what happened at the Capitol Wednesday morning.
But what we do know is what police told congressional investigators. And the answers make it clear what happened was bad news for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a fact that’s been missed in the national media.
Here’s a summary of some of the key findings from the Capitol Police’s investigation into the incident.
Cameras were in place but not turned on
The question of whether Capitol security cameras inside the Speaker’s House were turned on was a central question in Capitol Police’s investigation.
“From what we can tell, cameras were operational but they were not actively monitored,” a spokesman told NBC News. “As a result, it would not have been possible for the cameras to have captured any video of the events that occurred on the day of the shooting.”
An NBC News review of a security camera feed from the House security camera system shows it caught three separate incidents occurring in Pelosi’s office.
The first occurred at 2:15 p.m. ET Wednesday after a gunman opened fire on lawmakers and staff.
An image from a security camera shows then-California Congressman Gabrielle Giffords at a bill-signing ceremony shortly before she was shot and later died in a mass shooting. (Image credit: Capitol Police website)
The second incident occurred at 3:50 p.m. ET. A gunman opened fire on other lawmakers before he was fatally shot by other Capitol Hill police officers.
The third incident occurred at 4 p.m. ET. After Capitol Police officers were shot, a gunman opened fire again.
An image from a security camera on the House floor shows the entrance to Pelosi’s office shortly before then-California Rep. Gabrielle Giffords was shot. An initial police report suggested the Capitol building was evacuated but then revised the report to say the Capitol was “not evacuated” because it was too dangerous to do so