On July 24, 1998, United States Capitol Police Officer Jacob Joseph Chestnut, 58, was killed while on duty at the Document Door entrance of the U.S. Capitol. A Vietnam veteran and an 18-year Capitol Police veteran, Chestnut was assisting two tourists with directions when a man identified as Russell Eugene Weston Jr. walked through the security checkpoint, set off the metal detector, and—after being told to return through it—produced a .38 caliber handgun and shot Chestnut in the back of the head at point-blank range.

The shooter then entered office suites used by senior Republican representatives, where a gunfight left Detective John Michael Gibson mortally wounded and a tourist injured. Weston was shot and wounded during the exchange and was apprehended at the scene. He had a reported history of mental illness, including a diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia, and had previously made threats directed at the President. Weston was charged with the murders, but later found mentally incompetent to stand trial and placed in a federal psychiatric facility; the charges were suspended but not dismissed.