A 31-year-old man from San Antonio, Texas, was arrested on Wednesday near the Naval Observatory in Washington, D.C. The man, identified as Paul Murray, was charged with carrying a dangerous weapon, possession of unregistered ammunition, possession of a large capacity ammunition feeding device, and carrying a rifle or shotgun outside of a business, as reported by NPR. Because the official residence is reportedly under repairs, Vice President Kamala Harris is not actually living there at this time. It’s not known if Murray was actually trying to come into contact with Harris or not.
Local outlet FOX 5 reports that a D.C. police source relayed to the outlet that Murray told Secret Service members he wanted to speak to the president. The local outlet reportedly accessed internal police bulletins that said the Army veteran was experiencing paranoid delusions. According to local outlet ABC 13, court documents state that Murray felt he was not getting the appropriate amount of attention from Veterans Affairs.
According to CNBC, a police report noted Murray, who reportedly served as an unmanned drone pilot from March 2010 to April 2014, was in possession of an: “AR-15 semi-automatic rifle, 113 rounds of unregistered ammunition, and five 30 round magazines.” Murray, who was initially detained by the Secret Service and then arrested by Washington police, reportedly willingly told police his car was parked in a garage a few miles away.
According to ABC News, the suspect’s mother called the Capitol Police because he reportedly made comments that concerned her. Notably, those statements reportedly did not involve President Biden or Vice President Harris. According to the outlet’s sources, Murray reportedly told the Secret Service he was wondering if Biden could help him. He reportedly drove to the D.C. area from Texas and arrived on Saturday, March 13.
As reported by local outlet WUSA9, D.C. Police told journalist Mike Valerio that Murray had been experiencing “paranoid delusions of people, mainly the military and government being after him and want to kill him.” Police also told the outlet that Murray had recently purchased an AR-15 “and may have it in his possession."
The Brazos County Sheriff's Office issued a statement, including in part: “The Brazos County Sheriff's Office has been in contact with Paul Murray over the past two weeks at the request of family members due to his behavior. There were no criminal violations found, but our agency continued to monitor the situation because of concerning behavior and statements, as well as, information that Murray may have been in possession of weapons.
Deputies, working with the family and healthcare providers to obtain a mental health evaluation, received information that Murray may have been traveling to Washington, D.C. “We communicated that information with our local and federal partners, in an effort to ensure the safety of all involved.”
You can watch a short video clip from a local man who says he witnessed activity outside of the vice president’s house.