A forensic gait analysis has reportedly identified a former U.S. Capitol Police officer as a potential match for the unidentified individual suspected of planting pipe bombs near the Republican National Committee and Democratic National Committee headquarters on January 5, 2021.
According to an investigation published by Blaze News and confirmed by several intelligence sources, the walking pattern of Shauni Rae Kerkhoff, 31, of Alexandria, Virginia, was determined to be a 94%–98% match to the suspect seen on surveillance footage from that evening.
Kerkhoff, who served with the Capitol Police for more than four years, left the department in mid-2021 to work on a security detail with the Central Intelligence Agency, sources told Blaze News.
In that role, she reportedly serves on dignitary protection teams that include assignments for CIA Director John Ratcliffe and other senior officials.
Her residence in Alexandria was reportedly under police watch as of Friday evening, and Blaze News Editor in Chief Christopher Bedford was briefly stopped by officers near the property before being allowed to leave.
The software analysis, which measured gait parameters such as knee flexion, hip extension, step length, and cadence, was conducted by a veteran analyst commissioned by Blaze News.
The program identified Kerkhoff’s movements as a 94% match, while the analyst’s visual review placed the similarity closer to 98%.
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The study compared security footage from the Capitol on January 6 with unedited video of the pipe-bomb suspect walking near C Street on the previous night.
Former FBI Special Agent Kyle Seraphin told Blaze News that he recognized the address where he had conducted surveillance days after January 6 as being next door to the woman now suspected in the case.
“The FBI put us one door away from the pipe bomber within days of January 6, and we were deliberately pulled away for no logical or logically investigative reason,” Seraphin said.
“And everything about that tells me that they were involved in a cover-up and have been since day one.”
Seraphin said his team had monitored an Air Force civilian employee whose vehicle was allegedly connected to the individual seen picking up the bomber in Falls Church, Virginia.
His proposal to conduct a “knock and talk” was denied, and the team was removed from the assignment later that evening.
The FBI, he added, tied a SmarTrip card allegedly used by the bomber to the same civilian employee, though investigators concluded that while the man purchased the card, he had not used it.
Kerkhoff, a member of the Capitol Police Civil Disturbance Unit from 2018 to 2021, had been a training officer for “less-lethal” weapons used during the January 6 crowd control operations.
Blaze News recently published security footage showing officers firing kinetic-impact projectiles from elevated positions, striking at least 16 individuals above the waistline during the early stages of the confrontation on the Capitol’s West Plaza.
The FBI has faced growing criticism over its handling of the pipe-bomb investigation, which remains unsolved nearly five years later despite a combined reward of $500,000.
The FBI is still offering a $500,000 reward for information that helps identify the person who placed pipe bombs at the offices of the Democratic National Committee and Republican National Committee on January 5, 2021. As part of our ongoing investigation, we’re releasing an… pic.twitter.com/LAP36S1nIk
— FBI Washington Field (@FBIWFO) October 22, 2025
Former Director Christopher Wray has testified before Congress that the bureau conducted thousands of interviews and reviewed tens of thousands of video files, but critics such as Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) have accused the agency of withholding critical details.
In a 2023 hearing, Massie pressed Wray on whether the individual who first discovered the DNC pipe bomb—a plainclothes Capitol Police counter-surveillance officer—had been interviewed.
Wray declined to discuss specifics, saying only that “all logical investigative steps” had been taken.
Former Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund told Blaze News that he had no knowledge of any Capitol Police involvement in the bomb placements.
“I had no knowledge that it was being carried out, nor were they carrying it out with any authorization from the chief’s office,” Sund said.
“I’m unaware of any legitimate reason that any Capitol Police or other law enforcement officer would be involved in the planting of those pipe bombs.”
According to Blaze News, the gait analysis findings were confirmed by multiple intelligence sources who reviewed the results.
Video comparisons included footage from the Capitol Police security network and older recordings of Kerkhoff playing soccer for Temple University, where she had suffered a serious leg injury in 2015 that left her with a slight limp.
The injury, resulting from a collision on the field, required surgery and ended her collegiate soccer career.
She later joined Temple’s ProRanger program, which partners with the National Park Service, before beginning her law enforcement career.
The potential identification of a Capitol Police officer as the suspect, if validated, could have significant implications for the government’s longstanding narrative surrounding the events of January 6.
The FBI’s inability to resolve the case has drawn renewed scrutiny from lawmakers and investigators seeking to determine whether the original investigation overlooked possible internal connections or mishandled evidence tied to the bombings.
As of now, the FBI maintains that the case remains active.
Officials have reiterated their commitment to pursuing all credible leads in what has become one of the most prolonged unsolved elements of the January 6 investigation.
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