31-year-old man Paul Murray of Texas was arrested on Wednesday near Vice President Kamala Harris‘s future home in Washington D.C
What We Know:
- The home is currently being renovated and resides near the Naval Observatory in D.C’s northwest corridor. Harris will be the 8th Vice President in American history to make the house her home. The house, often referred to as The Superintendent’s House has been the home to every Vice President since the Carter administration in 1977. Murray was detained after officers responded to an intelligence bulletin issued by the state of Texas.
- Murray is currently being charged with carrying a dangerous weapon, carrying a rifle or shotgun outside of a business, possession of unregistered ammunition, and possession of a large capacity ammunition feeding device. A report from authorities reveals that they had found the weapons and ammunition in the suspect’s vehicle located near the Washington convention center. Vice President Harris was working inside the Eisenhower Executive Building to swear in Michael Regan as Environmental Protection Agency administrator at the time of the incident.
- It is currently unclear what Murray’s motives were and if he had plans to commit harm to the Vice President. Paul Murray was previously a Texas A&M University Graduate but wasn’t currently enrolled this semester. He is a veteran and allegedly had complained that he wasn’t receiving support from Veteran’s Affairs and wasn’t taking his prescribed medication. Murray’s family in Texas had made a request to the Brazos County Sheriff’s Office to remain in contact with Murray due to his behavior prior to this incident.
- During one of their welfare checks to Murray, officers reported him as saying that he didn’t want to hurt himself, but he would hurt someone else “if it was justified.” In the past, Murray had informed local police in Bryan, Texas, that he had been discharged from the military due to schizophrenia. No trial or proceedings have been made yet, and this story is still developing.
It appears as though this case is being treated delicately and that mental health will factor in as a critical role in Paul Murray’s sentencing.
