The Shadow
A 25-year-old man identified by officials as the person who rammed a vehicle into a Capitol barricade and lunged at police, killing one officer and wounding another, had ties to Alleghany County.
Noah Ricardo Green graduated from Alleghany High School in 2014. He played college football at Glenville State in West Virginia and Christopher Newport University in Newport News.
Authorities said Green rammed a sedan into the barricade on Constitution Avenue outside the Capitol around 1 p.m. Friday. The crash and shooting happened at a checkpoint near the Capitol. Congress is currently on recess.
Police said Green then got out of the vehicle and lunged at police with a knife in his hand before at least one officer shot him.
Both officers and Green were hospitalized after the incident.
One officer, identified as 18-year department veteran Officer William “Billy” Evans, died from injuries sustained in the attack, while the other officer is in stable condition with injuries that do not appear to be life-threatening.
Green also died after being taken to the hospital.
According to The New York Times, while Green was a student at Christopher Newport, he was focused on Black economic empowerment, counseling his football teammates on financial management and plotting a career to help close the racial wealth gap.
He majored in business.
According to The Times article, Green was struggling by late March. Family and friends told the newspaper that the COVID-19 pandemic left him isolated and mentally unmoored. And his life appeared increasingly to revolve around the Nation of Islam and its leader Louis Farrakhan, who has repeatedly promoted anti-Semitism.
“Follower of Farrakhan,” Green labeled himself on Facebook, where he described leaving his job and grappling with “some of the biggest, unimaginable tests in my life.”
A law enforcement official, who spoke anonymously to The New York Times, said that, based on early evidence, investigators believed that Green was influenced by a combination of underlying mental health issues and a connection to an ideological cause that provided justification to commit violence.
According to the Christopher Newport University website, Green was born in Fairlea, W.Va. He had seven sisters and two brothers.
At Alleghany High School, he was a running back and defensive back for the football team. Green earned all-district and all-region honors in 2013. He was also named the team’s most valuable player.
Green also ran track and earned all-district and all-region honors in that sport.
Alleghany County School Superintendent Kimberly Halterman issued a statement Friday saying, “We are aware of the news reports from Washington, D.C., today. Our condolences go out to all those affected.”
Brendan Green told The Washington Post on Friday that his brother had been struggling mentally for months.
Noah Green had briefly moved to Botswana this year, his brother said, and tried to jump in front of a car, before returning and asking to move in with his brother in suburban Virginia, not far from Washington.
Brendan Green said his brother had become violently ill on Thursday night and left the apartment, declaring that he was ready to become homeless.
The family gave a statement to The Washington Post on Saturday expressing condolences for the family of Officer Evans, who died in the attack, and speculating that Green’s struggles may have been related to head injuries sustained playing football.
Acting U.S. Capitol Police Chief Yogananda Pittman issued a statement Friday paying homage to Evans.
“Officer Evans had been a member of the United States Capitol Police for 18 years. He began his USCP service on March 7, 2003, and was a member of the Capitol Division’s First Responder’s Unit. Please keep Officer Evans and his family in your thoughts and prayers,” Pittman said.
