Giancarlo and Santa Refalo were on honeymoon in the US.

A Maltese tourist and his wife, who stopped in Washington DC for a few hours last Thursday, witnessed the dramatic car chase that temporarily prompted a lockdown of the US Capitol.

“It was a bit unreal, like watching a movie. It was like we were stuck in the middle of an action scene,” Giancarlo Refalo told The Sunday Times of Malta.

“My wife turned to me and said: let’s hide because those were gunshots. And we went running.

Later, the couple learnt that a woman who had just rammed security gates near the White House in Washington was running away from the police.

She was shot dead after officers opened fire on her vehicle when she headed to Capitol Hill.

Investigators probing the incident are focusing on whether Miriam Carey had mental health problems that triggered her actions.

Suddenly we heard police sirens and saw a black car speeding by

Qatar-based couple Mr Refalo, 28, and his wife Santa were on a 13-day honeymoon in the US. They stopped in Washington DC for 30 hours, before heading back home.

“We were sitting on a bench just outside the Capitol building, and it was relatively quiet. Suddenly we heard police sirens and saw a black car speeding by, three or four metres away from us.

“We thought the car was moving out of the police cars’ way. A few metres on, the police circled the vehicle, pointing the gun at it and firing shots. We heard loud pops.

“My wife looked at me and said: those were gunshots, let’s get out of the way. We got up and scrambled for cover behind some bushes.”

As the couple ran for the bushes, the black car came back, followed by more police cars.

“So at that point we just stayed low. We didn’t really know what was going on, but we realised it was a car chase. It happened within minutes.”

It was the first time Mr Refalo had heard gunshots in his life, so he was under shock.

Within seconds, people around them were scattered on lawns facing down and taking cover.

They heard a loud bang and saw a police car crash into a barrier.

Peering through the leaves, the couple got out from behind the bushes and realised the situation had calmed down.

“But I had never seen something like that, it was quite scary,” Mr Refalo said.