Luxury Car: Police swarm around the Nissan Infiniti car on grass near the U.S. Capitol October 3, 2013 on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC
Rescued: This is little Erica, the one-year-old daughter of Miriam Carey who was miraculously rescued safely from her mother’s bullet-riddled car
Last night her mother revealed the 34-year-old has suffered from postpartum depression since giving birth to her daughter Erica last year.
These revelations are the first clues as to what led a seemingly happy dental hygienist to snap and drive her Infiniti luxury sedan 270 miles from her home in suburban Stamford to Washington, DC – where her rampage put the nation’s capital on lock-down Thursday.
Carey’s 18-month-old daughter Erica – who was in the back seat – was not injured, despite the Secret Service and U.S. Capitol police firing up to 15 shots into her car.
Little Erica was rescued from the bullet-riddled car after her mother was shot dead. She is currently in the custody of child services workers.
Pictured: A neighbor has confirmed to MailOnline that this is Miriam Carey, the woman who is believed to have been shot dead by Capitol Police
It also emerged today that Carey’s friends said she was upbeat and ‘normal’ until she fell down some stairs and hit her head in April 2012.
When Carey was receiving treatment for the injury in the hospital, she learned that she was pregnant.
She received a handicapped parking permit because of the injury, but doctors from the medical suite where she worked complained that she was tying up parking in front of the building, according to CBS.
The resulting dispute from this ended with her losing her job.
It emerged today that Carey had beensued by her condominium association for failure to pay fees.
The complaint filed in November by the association for the Stamford building said Miriam Carey had failed to pay her fees in full since August 2010 and owed the association $1,759 in addition to collection costs.
The lawsuit was settled in February.
The lawsuit by the Woodside Green Association indicates Carey took out a mortgage on her Stamford condo in the amount of $237,616 in September 2009.
Idella Carey told ABC News that her daughter Miriam ‘had postpartum depression after having the baby’ in August 2012.
‘A few months later, she got sick. She was depressed…. She was hospitalized,’ Mrs Carey added.
She thought Carey was taking Erica to a doctor’s appointment in Connecticut.
The 34-year-old has five sisters, one of whom is an NYPD officer.
Another, Amy Carey – who is a nurse in Brooklyn – expressed disbelief when told about what happened to her sister by a Washington Post reporter.
‘That’s impossible. She works, she holds a job. She wouldn’t be in D.C. She was just in Connecticut two days ago,’ she said. ‘I spoke to her…I don’t know what’s happening. I can’t answer anymore.’
Dentist Barry Weiss told NBC Connecticut that Carey was working for him in January 2012 when she suffered a fall and missed two-to-three weeks of work.
When she returned she was pregnant but he later fired her in August 2012 after patients complained that she was too rough.
She was not married to the father but ‘seemed happy’ about the pregnancy, the former boss said.
Authorities said the single-mother had a ‘history of mental illness’ but did not elaborate.
Neighbor Erin Jackson told ABC she believed Carey lived in the Stamford home with the baby and the girl’s father.
Asked if she believed Carey suffered from a mental illness, Jackson said ‘absolutely’ and revealed she had her tires slashed in an incident last year in Connecticut.
Police, including FBI and bomb disposal units, surrounded a home in Stamford on Thursday evening that authorities say is linked to the investigation, but won’t give specifics.
Police there said they were awaiting a search warrant from Washington, though 50 people from the apartment building already were being evacuated for the night.
Stamford: Hazardous materials personal prepare to enter the apartment complex where Miriam Carey is believed to have lived in the early hours of this morning after a neighbor said the dental hygienist ‘absolutely’ was crazy
Aftermath: Capitol Hill police officers look at a car following a shooting on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Oct. 3, 2013. A police officer was reported injured after gunshots at the U.S. Capitol
Impact: A veteran Capitol Police officer smashed his squad car into a barrier while rushing to the scene of the incident. He was not severely injured
Run For Cover: Seen from the US Capitol, tourists flee as Capitol Police are seen outside of the Senate side of the Capitol Building on October 3, 2013 in Washington, DC
Events Unfolded just after 2 p.m. today in Washington D.C. when the vehicle driven by an unidentified woman crashed into security gates at the White House sparking a furious chase that ended at the Capitol
US CAPITOL SHOOTING: Police car’s high-speed crash following…
BRAVE CAPITOL POLICE RISKED THEIR LIVES FOR FREE BECAUSE OF GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN
When Congress reconvened after the lock-down Thursday afternoon, the Capitol Police officers who stopped Miriam Carey got a standing ovation – but not much else.
The 1,800 officers who protect the nation’s capital are currently working for free thanks to the government shutdown.
The officers are considered essential staff – so they are turning up for work, but won’t get paid for their service until the impasse ends and Congress agrees to fund the government.
Congressmen tweeted about hiding in coat rooms and ducking behind cars during the harrowing moments before Carey was killed within sight of the Capitol Building.
Meanwhile, the officers who risked their lives haven’t been paid since Tuesday, thanks to Congress’ in-fighting over whether to pass a Continuing Resolution to fund day-to-day operations.
Carey’s former boss of eight years, Dr Steven Oken, said in the eight years he knew Miriam she was ‘always happy’ – and not interested in politics. Neighbors told the New York Daily News she was ‘a nice young lady, stable’.
‘I would never in a million years believe that she would do something like this,’ he told ABC. ‘It’s the furthest thing from anything I would think she would do, especially with her child in the car. I am floored that it would be her.’
That portrait contrasts starkly with the woman who sent Congressmen diving for coatrooms in the Capitol Building and tourists fleeing in terror after she tried to force her way into an entrance to the White House about 2pm on Tuesday.
Despite the sensitive location, Capitol Police Chief Kim Dine said: ‘This appears to be an isolated incident.There is no nexus to terrorism.’
Witnesses say Carey plowed through a temporary barrier and hit a Secret Service agent who was trying to wave her off – sending him flying onto the hood of her car.
The Secret Service opened fire on her car as she turned and fled.
Police pursued her through the streets of Capitol Hill during a frantic chase that hit speeds up to 80pmh.
Video footage shows the Capitol Police officers – who have not been paid since Tuesday because of the government shutdown – surrounded Casey’s car – guns drawn. At one point an officer even sticks his weapon inside her open passenger-side window.