page_title: 1998 United States Capitol shooting
section_title: Officers
hierarchical_section_title: 1998 United States Capitol shooting / Officers
caption_attribution_description: Photograph of Jacob Chestnut
context_page_description: The 1998 United States Capitol shooting was an attack on July 24, 1998, which led to the deaths of two United States Capitol Police officers. Officer Jacob Chestnut and Detective John Gibson were killed when Russell Eugene Weston, Jr., entered the Capitol and opened fire. Chestnut was killed instantly and Gibson died during surgery at George Washington University Hospital. Weston's exact motives are unknown, but has expressed a strong distrust of the federal government. As of May 2008, Weston remains in a mental institution diagnosed with a mental disorder. Weston was later charged on July 26 for the murder of two U.S. Capitol Police officers during the shooting rampage.
context_section_description: Officer Jacob Joseph Chestnut (April 28, 1940 – July 24, 1998) was the first African American to lie in honor at the Capitol. Chestnut, a retired United States Air Force veteran, is buried in Arlington National Cemetery. His funeral included a speech by President Bill Clinton and a fly-over by military jets in a missing man formation. A United States Post Office located in Fort Washington, Maryland has been renamed in his and Detective John Gibson's honor.
  Detective John Michael Gibson (March 29, 1956 – July 24, 1998) was a United States Capitol Police officer assigned to the dignitary protection detail of Congressman Tom DeLay. He is buried in Arlington National Cemetery after lying in honor with Chestnut in the Capitol rotunda. Detective Gibson had served with the agency for 18 years. He was a native of Massachusetts who married the niece of Representative Joe Moakley, Democrat of Massachusetts. He had three children, a 17-year-old daughter and two boys, ages 15 and 14.
  Growing up in New England, Det. Gibson was a lifelong Boston Red Sox fan, and on August 11, 1998, his beloved team had a moment of silence in his honor prior to a game with the Kansas City Royals.
caption: Officer Jacob Chestnut, USCP
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