Washington ? A man police fatally shot in a chaotic scene near the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday fired at them and did not obey commands to put down his weapon, authorities said.

U.S. Capitol Police spokeswoman Sgt. Kim Schneider said the unidentified 35-year-old man sped away in a white car after a routine traffic stop a few blocks from the Capitol. The man drove the wrong way down a street and ultimately crashed into a police cruiser in a heavily guarded area about a block north of the Capitol grounds, striking two officers with his car along the way, she said.

The suspect began shooting at several Capitol Police officers and police returned fire, Schneider said in e-mailed news release. She described the melee as “very fast moving, very fluid.”

“The officers felt they were being threatened — they were in fear for their lives,” Schneider said.