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Shutdown Delayed Capitol Police Board’s Navy Yard Investigation

The federal government shutdown delayed a Capitol Police Board investigation into the department’s response to the mass shooting at the Navy Yard on Sept. 16.

Originally, a report on facts surrounding the stand-down order allegedly issued by Capitol Police commanders to a heavily-armed team of officers was due to the board “no later than” Monday, but findings have been pushed back.

A new due date has not been released, but recommendations will be made available to the board “in the very near future,” according to a statement from the office of Senate Sergeant-at-Arms Terrance Gainer, the chairman of the Capitol Police Board.

Capitol Police Chief Kim Dine requested a comprehensive, independent fact review of his department’s response two days after the shooting, following an exclusive BBC report that four members of the Containment and Emergency Response Team were ordered by their commanders to leave the scene.

In response, Gainer and the board — House Sergeant-at-Arms Paul Irving, Architect of the Capitol Stephen T. Ayers and Dine — established a fact review team led by Michael Stenger, assistant sergeant-at-arms for protective services and continuity and a former Secret Service assistant director of to get to the bottom of the questions.

Dine requested the team focus specifically on mutual aid efforts. Members of Congress have also called for investigations into the security implications of the tragedy.

The work of the fact review team is ongoing, according to the statement.

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