POLICE KILL WOMAN WHO RAMMED HER CAR INTO WHITE HOUSE BARRIER WHILE HER BABY WAS IN THE VEHICLE

LATE MIRIAM CAREY

The Connecticut woman who rammed a White House barrier with her young daughter in the car before being gunned down by police was suffering from postpartum depression after giving birth last year, her mother has revealed. 

The revelation by Miriam Carey's family is the first hint at what could have caused the dental hygienist to drive her Infiniti luxury sedan 270 miles from her home in suburban Stamford to Washington, DC - where her rampage put the nation's capital on lock-down Thursday. 

Carey's daughter Erica, who was in the back seat, was not injured, despite the Secret Service and U.S. Capitol police firing up to 15 shots into her car.

Little Erica was rescued from the bullet-riddled car after her mother was shot dead. She is currently in the custody of child services workers.

Idella Carey informs that her daughter Miriam 'had postpartum depression after having the baby' in August 2012.

'A few months later, she got sick. She was depressed. ... She was hospitalized,' Mrs Carey added.

A former employer said Miriam sustained a head injury when she fell down stair last year. When she returned to work after recovering, she was pregnant. She was not married to the father but 'seemed happy' about the pregnancy, the former boss said.

Authorities said the single-mother had a 'history of mental illness' but did not elaborate.