Police shot a 35-year-old man near the US Capitol building in Washington today in what authorities described as a routine traffic stop that turned deadly.

The unidentified man was shot after brandishing a weapon, police said. He died shortly after the late afternoon melee, in which eyewitnesses said multiple gunshots were fired.

The shootings happened a few blocks away from where the third day of hearings for US supreme court nominee Sonia Sotomayor was wrapping up.