A woman has been shot dead today after she rammed her car into a White House barricade

Treatment: Capitol Hill police and medics take a shooting victim away on a stretcher at the site of a shooting October 3, 2013 on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC.

 Police gather near the scene on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Oct. 3, 2013, after gunshots were heard. Police say the U.S. Capitol has been put on a security lockdown

A woman has been shot dead today after she rammed her car into a White House barricade with a young child inside then led police on a chase toward the Capitol, witnesses said.

Up to 15 shots were fired at 2pm (ET) on Thursday with officers swarming the scene with machine guns while hundreds of staffers and tourists fled in terror or took shelter in buildings at the political heart of Washington D.C.

The female suspect was shot dead by police officers but is not believed to have fired any shots. She is reportedly a 34-year-old dental hygienist from Stamford, Connecticut.

A child, aged around two or three years old, was rescued from the car uninjured following the police chase with the driver of the luxury, black Infiniti.