A U.S. Capitol Police officer died Thursday night after allegedly being struck in the head by a fire extinguisher during Wednesday’s riots at the Capitol.
A police statement confirmed the death of Officer Brian D. Sicknick late on Thursday evening after a day of confusion surrounding his wellbeing:
An earlier CNN report claimed that the officer died following “events stemming from” Wednesday’s Capitol riots.
CNN noted the officer “is now the fifth person to die as a result of the day’s violence.”
However, a U.S. Capitol Police spokesperson said that those reports were inaccurate and that while the officer is in critical condition, the officer has not died.
The United States Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund, released a statement Thursday indicating that over 50 officers from the Capitol police and Metropolitan police forces were injured during the riots.
Sund announced that he will resign next week amid an avalanche of complaints about the way Capitol security was handled during the riots.
This story was edited and updated Friday to include freshly released information
AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him at awrhawkins@breitbart.com. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange.