The bizarre attack at the White House and Capitol today was reportedly perpetrated by a 34-year-old dental hygienist licensed in Connecticut. Miriam Carey, who was killed by law enforcement after ramming White House barricades and fleeing to the Capitol, had a toddler in the car with her, according to New York Post reporting:

Sources said Miriam Carey, who formerly lived in Brooklyn, was licensed to practice in New York and Connecticut and had a permit to work as a hygienist in Connecticut prisons.

At least a dozen gunshots were fired when she tried to flee cops, who had trapped her two blocks from the Capitol. She was believed to have been hit several times.

A child believed to be a girl about 2 or 3 years old was found unhurt in her black Infiniti sedan, which had Connecticut license plates.

Authorities had no immediate explanation of the woman’s motive. But Capitol Police chief Kim Dine told reporters there was no reason to believe it was an act of terrorism “or anything other than an isolated incident.”

ABC News said the 34-year-old woman had a history of mental health issues. A task force of FBI and Secret Service agents was executing a search warrant at her Connecticut home, CNN said.

Thank God the child seems to have been unharmed, considering the intensity and confusion of the confrontation and the number of shots fired. “Video images showed a young child, her hair in braids, being carried by an officer to the back of a patrol car,” according to the Washington Post, which identifies her as a 1-year-old daughter:

Her sister, Amy Carey, a Brooklyn nurse, was incredulous when she was reached Thursday afternoon and told what had happened outside the Capitol.

“That’s impossible. She works, she holds a job,” said Amy Carey, who confirmed that her Stamford-based sister drove a black car. She said she knew of nothing that would bring her sister to Washington. “She wouldn’t be in D.C. She was just in Connecticut two days ago, I spoke to her. . . . I don’t know what’s happening. I can’t answer any more.”

Buzzfeed has a picture of Carey.

Before we knew any of this, though, at least one person on Capitol Hill had to blame the incident on the government shutdown. You can always count on Sheila Jackson Lee: