Capitol Officer Commits Suicide 3 Days after Fellow Cop's Death in Congress Riot

A US Capitol Police officer has reportedly committed suicide three days after the force was thrown into chaos when Donald Trump's supporters stormed the Congress.

Officer Howard Liebengood, 51, died while off-duty on Saturday, the USCP announced in a statement.

Two sources told the Associated Press that Liebengood committed suicide. The USCP did not disclose a cause of death.

Liebengood is the second Capitol Police officer to die in the days after Trump supporters stormed the building in a bid to block the validation of Joe Biden's election victory.

The other officer, Brian Sicknick, died on Thursday after reportedly having been hit over the head by a fire extinguisher during the riots.

Liebengood had been with the UCSP since April 2005 and was assigned to the Senate Division.

'Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family, friends, and colleagues,' the agency said in its statement. 'We ask that his family, and other USCP officers' and their families' privacy be respected during this profoundly difficult time.'

Liebengood was the son of former top Senate aide Howard S Liebengood, who served as a Sergeant of Arms at the Capitol from 1981 to 1983 and died of a heart attack aged 62 in 2005.

The USCP made no suggestion that the younger Liebengood's death had anything to do with last week's riots at the Capitol, which claimed the life of his colleague, Sicknick.