Miriam Carey was a dental hygienist, a mother, and a college graduate.
Police have not said why the 34-year-old woman from Stamford, Connecticut, went on a rampage on Washington, D.C, on Thursday, ramming barricades outside the White House before police shot her dead.
Authorities said Carey had a young daughter in the black Infiniti that she drove at high speeds around Washington. Police say after flattening the barricade by the White House she led police on a high-speed chase toward the Capitol.
Police ultimately shot and killed Carey as she sped around the Capitol grounds, with the shooting prompting a brief lockdown on Congress.
Afterward authorities said there was no sign that Miriam Carey was armed.
They also have not announced a motive in the attack, and the initial details released about Carey offer few indications. Public records show that she had finished college and had a steady job as a dental hygienist.
When a reporter reached Miriam’s sister, Amy Carey, to inform her of the incident, Amy was stunned.
“That’s impossible. She works, she holds a job,” said Amy Carey, who said she could not think of why Miriam would have traveled 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.”
A Facebook page that appeared to be for Miriam Carey offered little more in the way of a motive. Capitol Police Chief Kim Dine added that the attack was not an act of terrorism .
Denis Jones, a friend of the Carey family, said the family would be releasing a statement but said nothing more.
