Photo by Matthew Yglesias.

The driver of a 5-ton military convoy truck struck and killed a cyclist while moving to block New York Avenue for a motorcade last night.

There were many witnesses at a nearby restaurant. MPD is investigating.

So far, the woman is unidentified, but WJLA has found out that she was 68 and lived in Northwest DC. That makes it sound like she is identified and we should hear more soon. Update: She has been identified as Constance Holden, a reporter for Science.

The incident puts a tragic veneer on an already-frustrating event, where citizens have to show ID and submit to searches just to enter their own homes. Security agencies are doing all of this in the name of protecting the world leaders, but it’s less clear whether it’s all necessary. What is clear is that one Washingtonian is dead as a result.

Geoff Hatchard Tweeted, “All this security to ensure that no one gets hurt or dies at the summit, and the security manages to kill someone? Mission NOT accomplished.”

WashCycle wrote, “Our thoughts should all be with the victim’s friends and family at the moment. While I don’t want to distract from that, I hope MPD and the Secret Service conduct a thorough investigation as well as take a long look at their security and motorcade policies after this tragedy.”

Most press outlets have articles this morning covering the incident. They mainly vary in the numbers of details and in the degree of doublespeak in the way they describe the crash.

Constance Holden’s self portrait, from the AAAS press release.

The Secret Service’s announcement says the vehicle “collided with the cyclist,” a common but sadly dehumanizing wording. The CNN Wire turns that around to “her bicycle collided with a National Guard vehicle,” with a sentence specifically stating that they don’t know if the cyclist did the colliding or the other way around. though they’ve now deleted it.

The best article is Markham Heid’s in the Examiner, which puts quotes around “collided” and also notes, in other summit news, that Metrobuses were improperly rerouted.

In other tragic news, the man struck by a Passat driver at Wisconsin and M on March 30th subsequently died, MPD has announced. They are still investigating the crash. (Georgetown Voice, Scott C.) … The Post also has a longer feature on the woman killed in Washington Circle last week.

Someone also stabbed two people outside Petworth Metro, and there was a shooting in Capitol Heights. (Post)

Update: AAAS has a release listing the achievements of Constance Holden, the victim.