Amy Carey-Jones, center, the sister of Miriam Carey, speaks to the news media outside the home of her sister Valarie, second from left, in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn. Law enforcement authorities identified Miriam Carey, 34, as the woman who, with a 1-year-old child in her car, led Secret Service officers and police on a harrowing chase Thursday from the White House past the Capitol, attempting to penetrate the security barriers at both national landmarks before being shot to death, police said. The child survived. 
 
 Oct. 4, 2013 Amy Carey-Jones, center, the sister of Miriam Carey, speaks to the news media outside the home of her sister Valarie, second from left, in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn. Law enforcement authorities identified Miriam Carey, 34, as the woman who, with a 1-year-old child in her car, led Secret Service officers and police on a harrowing chase Thursday from the White House past the Capitol, attempting to penetrate the security barriers at both national landmarks before being shot to death, police said. The child survived. John Minchillo/AP 
 
 Federal agents trying to stop the black Infiniti speeding between the White House and the U.S. Capitol fired seven shots at its unarmed driver, who had a toddler in the car with her, an uncommon tactic that occurred during a highly unusual chase. 
 
 Legislators and other employees told to shelter in place after “two very rapid fire bursts” heard to the north of the Capitol. 
 
 Legislators and other employees told to shelter in place after “two very rapid fire bursts” heard to the north of the Capitol. 
 
 She had a toddler with her, confounding everyone who watched the car crash through barriers and lead police through the heart of high-security Washington. 
 
 Law enforcement officials said the black Infiniti was registered to a 34-year-old mother named Miriam Carey, a dental hygienist from Stamford, Conn. They think it was Carey, with her 1-year-old daughter sitting behind her, who flattened barricades outside the White House, struck officers and then set off at high speed down Pennsylvania Avenue. 
 
 D.C. police confirmed that the driver was shot and killed after careening around the Capitol grounds and crashing at Second Street NE. There was no sign that she was armed, police said. 
 
 Video images showed a young child, her hair in braids, being carried by an officer to the back of a patrol car. 
 
 The initial portrait of Carey that emerged suggested a person unlikely to be found in the center of such violence. Carey, according to public documents, friends and family members, had finished college and established a work history as a dental hygienist. 
 
 Police had a confrontation with a woman in a black car and engaged in a brief car chase with her before shots were fired outside the U.S. Capitol on Thursday. (Thomas LeGro/The Washington Post) 
 
 Her sister, Amy Carey, a Brooklyn nurse, was incredulous when she was reached Thursday afternoon and told what had happened. 
 
 “That’s impossible. She works, she holds a job,” said Amy Carey, who confirmed that her Stamford-based sister drove a black car. “She wouldn’t be in D.C. She was just in Connecticut two days ago, I spoke to her. . . . I don’t know what’s happening. I can’t answer any more.” 
 
 About 11 p.m. Thursday, at least a dozen local police cars, fire trucks and ambulances lined a street in Stamford outside the apartment complex where Miriam Carey reportedly lived. Sections of the complex were cordoned off with yellow crime tape. 
 
 Eric Sanders, an attorney for the Carey family, said outside the Brooklyn home of another sister, Valarie Carey, that the family was struggling to absorb the news. He said he would release an official statement Friday. 
 
 “We have to mend the family first and find out what happened in D.C.,” Sanders said. 
 
 People who knew Carey described her as friendly and dedicated. 
 
 Angela Windley, 33, befriended Carey while both attended Hostos Community College in the Bronx and graduated with an associate’s degree in dental hygiene. Officials at Brooklyn College confirmed that a student named Miriam Carey graduated in 2007 with a bachelor’s degree in health and nutrition science. 
 
 Windley said she and Carey went on a vacation to Cancun together about three years ago but that she had lost touch with Carey in the past two years or so after Carey stopped replying to messages that Windley left on Facebook. 
 
 “She was really just a sweet and nurturing person,” said Sara Vega, a former schoolmate of Carey’s in Brooklyn, where Carey was born and raised. Vega, who now lives in Georgia, said she hadn’t seen Carey in recent years but that the two had been in touch occasionally on Facebook. “I know she had a daughter about a year ago.” 
 
 Windley said she and Carey had attended the same high school but did not become friends until their days at the community college. Carey had four sisters, including one who was a longtime New York police officer. 
 
 Carey “wanted to have a better life,” Windley said. “The neighborhood we both grew up in wasn’t the greatest, and she always talked about getting out.” 
 
 Carey moved to Stamford after “some problems with her landlord,” Windley said, “but the Brooklyn rents were getting so high . . . that’s how she landed in Stamford.” 
 
 Carey was “always very professional” and “very focused,” according to Windley. “She wanted better, always.” 
 
 Windley said she knew of no connections to the District that Carey might have had and had never heard Carey express any opinion about the government. “This is very shocking,” Windley said as she fought back tears during a telephone interview. 
 
 During her friendship with Carey, Windley said she had never witnessed Carey lashing out in anger “beyond, you know, normal girl stuff, like, ‘What is up with her?’ about another girl, but nothing crazy. Some sharp words, that would be it.” 
 
 Carey also had not shown signs of mental illness during the time Windley knew her and “was not one to even talk about politics.” 
 
 Carey did not have many friends, Windley said, and could seem “arrogant. If there was a negative, people said that was it. She could be sort of conceited, like she knew everything.” 
 
 That trait surfaced at school during their training and was off-putting to some of the faculty, Windley said. “But that was the most negative thing you could say about her.” 
 
 Carey also was a good driver with a good sense of direction, Windley said. “She wasn’t one to get all crossed up, she knew maps — I even recall saying that I hoped I became as good a driver as she was, since I can get lost in a box.” 
 
 In a news conference, D.C. Police Chief Cathy L. Lanier said the incident did not appear to be an accident, noting there was “a lengthy pursuit.” 
 
 Told about the confrontation on Capitol Hill, Windley said: “I would have pulled over, stopped. Why wouldn’t she? Why would she have done this? Why? And why with her daughter in the car? Why would she do something like that?” 
 
 Alice Crites, Jennifer Jenkins, Colum Lynch and Matt Zapotosky contributed to this report. ||||| STAMFORD -- A Stamford woman was shot and killed after trying to ram her car into a White House security barrier and leading police on a high-speed chase past the Capitol with her 18-month-old daughter in tow. 
 
 Miriam Carey, 34, of 114 Woodside Green, drove her black Infiniti coupe onto a driveway leading to the White House, and over a set of lowered barricades. When Carey couldn't get through a second barrier, she spun the car in the opposite direction, flipping a Secret Service officer over the hood of the car as she sped away, said B.J. Campbell, a tourist from Portland, Ore. 
 
 A representative of Carey's family in Brooklyn, N.Y., said the family is still gathering information and was surprised by Thursday's incident. 
 
 On Friday morning the law enforcement response appeared to be packing up. Stamford police officers still had the area cordoned off, and residents were still not being allowed into building 114. Residents whose cars were parked in the lot in front of it were able to get out. Bridge Street was reopened. There was still a state environmental response trailer and crew on the scene, though. 
 
 Thursday night, fire trucks had lined Washington Boulevard, with a hose line running down to the area of the condo complex's lawn, where there are barbecue grills. Plastic tarpaulins had been strung up around the area, and emergency lights on telescoping poles shone down into it. Stamford police officers kept the public away, and people wearing FBI jackets or plain clothes swarmed around the property. 
 
 Residents stood around the edges watching and hoping to get back into their apartments. One had resolved to go to his parents' house, but needed clothes for work the next day. Another had parked his car on a side street, and was considering sleeping in it. 
 
 Carey was a licensed dental hygienist and according to a local law enforcement official, she suffered from mental illness, but had no criminal record. 
 
 Carey's car at one point was surrounded by police cars, and she managed to escape, careening around a traffic circle and past the north side of the Capitol. Video shot by a TV cameraman showed police pointing firearms at her car before she rammed a Secret Service vehicle and continued driving. Metropolitan Police Chief Cathy Lanier said police shot and killed her just outside the Hart Senate Office Building, a block northeast of the Capitol. 
 
 One Secret Service member and a 23-year veteran of the Capitol Police were injured. Officials said they were in good condition and expected to recover. 
 
 "This appears to be an isolated, singular matter, with, at this point, no nexus to terrorism," Capitol Police Chief Kim Dine said. 
 
 Dine said an officer took the child from the car to a hospital. She is in good condition and under protective custody, officials said. 
 
 Soon after Carey was fatally shot, the investigation into the chaotic events led to Stamford. Local police, along with federal law enforcement officials, descended on the Woodside Green condominium complex, bordered by Washington Boulevard and Bridge and Summer streets, just north of downtown. 
 
 "A full investigation is underway by federal authorities who are in Stamford currently," Stamford Mayor Michael Pavia said. "Stamford police are assisting federal authorities as needed." 
 
 City officials were not able to provide further information about the incident, as federal authorities are in charge of the investigation. 
 
 Several federal agents, including FBI and Secret Service, were seen entering the complex. The FBI expects the investigation to continue through the night. 
 
 "It is a very methodical process not unlike Newtown," an agent on the scene said. 
 
 A state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection response truck arrived at the scene around 8:30 p.m. 
 
 Investigators are piecing together any clues that would indicate why someone who appeared successful would strap her young daughter into a car seat in the back of a luxury car, drive to the nation's Capitol, which is in the midst of a government shutdown, and act so erratically. 
 
 According to public records, Carey lived near her family in Brooklyn, N.Y., from at least 1997 to 2009, when she moved to Stamford. She earned her dental hygiene license from New York state in 2002, and after letting her license expire in July 2008 she applied for and received a license to practice in Connecticut in September 2009. In 2011, she started her own temporary employment firm called Experienced Dental Placements out of her condo. 
 
 In 2012, Carey's condo association filed suit against her, but it was later withdrawn for the parties to discuss matters out of court. It's not clear why the suit was filed. 
 
 Before entering the condo Thursday evening, police used a bomb-detecting robot to enter Carey's unit, 1C at 114 Woodside Green. Federal agents showed neighbors a photo of the suspect, but did not identify the woman, according to neighbors. Residents of the 212-unit complex were still not being allowed to re-enter their homes as of 9 p.m. 
 
 At one point, two plain-clothes officers escorted a woman into the building and emerged a short time later, the woman carrying a small, white dog. 
 
 Vanessa Fabre, who said she moved into Woodside Green this past February, shook her head when she heard the woman involved may be one of her neighbors. 
 
 "That's crazy," she said. 
 
 Fabre had earlier driven into the parking lot of the complex, saw police surrounding it and two news helicopters hovering overhead. 
 
 "The people here seem very nice, but there are some weird people here." 
 
 Janet Vazquez was among the hundreds of residents barred from entering their apartments while police investigated, said she was alarmed by the situation. 
 
 "This is so scary," Vazquez said. "It makes you realize you can't escape stuff like this anymore. It doesn't matter if you live in a big city or a small one." 
 
 Kevin Morano said he lives two doors down from the suspect and said he only knew that Carey was a dental hygienist and that she drove fast in a black Infiniti and a white BMW. 
 
 "I know one thing; she always drove too fast," Morano said. 
 
 Staff writers Wes Duplantier, Maggie Gordon, John Nickerson, Mike Mayko and The Associated Press contributed to this report. ||||| A woman killed by police today after a high-speed chase through Washington, D.C., that led to a lockdown of Capitol Hill suffered post-partum depression following the recent birth of her daughter, the suspect's mother told ABC News. 
 
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 The woman was believed to be Miriam Carey, 34, a dental hygienist from Stamford, Conn., authorities told the woman's family, according to a family spokesman. 
 
 Police earlier said they were witholding the name of the driver of the car involved in the chase pending positive identification and notification of next of kin. 
 
 Authorities said the woman led police on a chase down Pennsylvania Avenue to the Capitol after ramming a gate at the White House. 
 
 Authorities described Carey has having a "mental illness." 
 
 "She had post-partum depression after having the baby" last August, said the woman's mother, Idella Carey. 
 
 She added, "A few months later, she got sick. She was depressed. ... She was hospitalized." 
 
 Carey had a 1-year-old daughter named Erica, her mother said. Police confirmed that a 1-year-old girl was taken from the car and put in "protective custody." 
 
 READ MORE: Attempt to Ram White House Gate Ends With Female Suspect Dead 
 
 PHOTOS: Capitol Hill Lockdown and D.C. Chase 
 
 Idella Carey said her daughter had "no history of violence" and she did not know why she was in Washington, D.C. She said she believed Carey was taking the little girl to a doctor's appointment today in Connecticut. 
 
 Dr. Steven Oken, her boss of eight years, described Carey as a "non-political person" who was "always happy." 
 
 "I would never in a million years believe that she would do something like this," he said. "It's the furthest thing from anything I would think she would do, especially with her child in the car. I am floored that it would be her." 
 
 A neighbor, Erin Jackson, said she believed Carey lived in the Stamford home with the baby and the girl's father. Asked if in retroscpect, Carey's behavior made sense in light of reports that she suffered a mental illness, Jackson said "absolutely." 
 
 Jackson recognized the black Infinity sedan seen on television from the incident as resembling Carey's car. She said the woman's tires recently were slashed in an incident in Connecticut. 
 
 Police, including FBI and bomb disposal units, surrounded a home in Stamford Thursday evening that authorities say is linked to the investigation, but won't give specifics. Police there said they were awaiting a search warrant from Washington, though 50 people from the apartment building already were being evacuated for the night. 
 
 Cops said Carey eluded police after they stopped her car and drew their guns. When she continued to flee, she drove "very erratically, very dangerously," said Senate Sergeant at Arms Terrance Gainer. 
 
 She ultimately rammed a police car and was shot by police without exiting the car, Gainer said. Two officers, one from the Capitol Police and one from Secret Service, were injured in the incident. 
 
 No weapons were found in the car, police said. 
 
 ABC News' Michael S. James contributed to this report. ||||| Police are using a small robot to enter a condo at the complex. 
 
 Federal agents showed neighbors a photo of the suspect, but did not identify the woman, according to neighbors. Residents of the complex are not being allowed to reenter their homes. 
 
 Stamford police and FBI agents converged on the scene. Two plain clothes officers escorted a woman into the building and emerged a short time later, the woman carrying a small white dog.
– Those who knew Miriam Carey, the reported driver of the black Infiniti at the center of yesterday's DC chase, are struggling to believe the news. "That’s impossible. She works, she holds a job," sister Amy Carey tells the Washington Post. "She wouldn’t be in DC. She was just in Connecticut two days ago," though she does have a black car, Amy says. But Carey's mom, Idella, tells ABC News her daughter was suffering from post-partum depression. Miriam gave birth to her daughter last August, Idella Carey says, and "a few months later, she got sick. She was depressed. ... She was hospitalized." (Police confirmed a 1-year-old girl was in the car with Carey when she was killed.) A former classmate says Miriam Carey "was really just a sweet and nurturing person," and a college friend says Carey was "always very professional" and "very focused." She didn't discuss politics, and wasn't one to lose her temper. But DC police chief Cathy Lanier says the situation yesterday didn't seem to be an accident. The Connecticut Post notes that Carey had no criminal record. Now her neighborhood in Stamford, Conn., is flooded with officials: "A full investigation is underway by federal authorities," says the city's mayor. A few more details have emerged: Carey—or someone with the same name—got a BA in health and nutrition from Brooklyn College in 2007. She also had an associate degree in dental hygiene from the Bronx's Hostos Community College. She moved to Stamford in 2009 after living in Brooklyn, close to her family, for years. In 2002, she gained a dental hygiene license from New York state; in 2009, she got one from Connecticut. She ran a temping business out of her Connecticut condo called Experienced Dental Placements. Her condo association sued her last year for unknown reasons, but the suit was dropped. BuzzFeed has an account of what's known so far, with photos.