Police probe car chase between White House and Capitol that ends with female driver shot dead

A damaged Capitol Hill police car is surrounded by crime scene tape on Constitution Avenue near the U.S. Capitol after a car chase and shooting occurred Thursday, Oct. 3, 2013, in Washington. A woman with a young child inside tried to ram through a White House barricade, then led police on a chase toward the Capitol, where police shot and killed her, witnesses and officials said. (AP Photo/ Evan Vucci) (The Associated Press)

Members of the FBI suit up outside the residence of Miriam Carey in Stamford, Conn. Thursday, Oct. 3, 2013. Law-enforcement authorities have identified Carey, 34, as the woman who, with a 1-year-old child in her car, led Secret Service and police on a harrowing chase in Washington from the White House past the Capitol Thursday, attempting to penetrate the security barriers at both national landmarks before she was shot to death, police said. The child survived. (AP Photo/The Stamford Advocate, Christian Abraham) MANDATORY CREDIT (The Associated Press)

Law enforcement from local, state and federal jurisdictions investigate the residence of Miriam Carey in Stamford, Conn. Thursday, Oct. 3, 2013. Law-enforcement authorities have identified Carey, 34, as the woman who, with a 1-year-old child in her car, led Secret Service and police on a harrowing chase in Washington from the White House past the Capitol Thursday, attempting to penetrate the security barriers at both national landmarks before she was shot to death, police said. The child survived. (AP Photo/The Stamford Advocate, Jason Rearick) MANDATORY CREDIT: STAMFORD ADVOCATE (The Associated Press)

Law enforcement authorities are investigating why a Connecticut woman tried to breach a White House barrier, setting off a high-speed car chase that put the Capitol on lockdown and ended with her being killed by police.

The harrowing chase Thursday unfolded between two national landmarks and briefly shuttered the chambers where lawmakers were debating how to end a government shutdown. It also stirred fresh panic in a city where a gunman two weeks ago killed 12 people.

Two law enforcement officials identified the driver as 34-year-old Miriam Carey, of Stamford, Conn. She was traveling with a one-year-old girl who avoided serious injury and was in protective custody.

The FBI was serving a search warrant in Stamford and police had cordoned off a condominium building. Still, the motive remained unclear.