For two local families, the events that unfolded Thursday afternoon as a woman rammed her car into a barrier at the White House hit close to home: One of the Capitol police officers who sprang into action during the crisis grew up in Lansford, graduated from Panther Valley High School, and married a young woman from Summit Hill.

Capitol Police Officer Gino Giantesano, whose picture is featured on the front page of today's New York Times he's the officer at the front is the son of Richard and Barbara Giantesano of Lansford and the son-in-law of Bob and Kathy Crampsie of Summit Hill.The Giantesanos watched the events unfold Thursday."We were watching it on TV, and after a while, we turned it off (after not seeing Gino)," Barbara said in a telephone interview early Friday.Then, the couple received a phone call from Barbara's sister-in-law in North Carolina, telling them to turn on their television because Gino was on camera.The Giantesanos turned their set back on, but didn't see their son. Then, their daughter Marie called. She had recorded the video on her phone."She was crying, she was so worried about him," Barbara Giantesano said.A short while later, the Giantesano's daughter-in-law, the former Colleen Crampsie, called to let them know their son was safe.For the rest of the day, the couple fielded phone calls from friends and neighbors who had heard a Capitol police officer had been hurt."It was a little nerve-racking until you know everything is over," Barbara said. "We are very proud of him, and worried sometimes. He has a hard job, and sometimes scary, but we're very proud of him."Meanwhile, Giantesano's in-laws, the Crampsies, were also following the events.Bob Crampsie was at work he's Carbon County's Controller when his wife called."She was very upset because she had heard from Colleen," who was at her job as a dental hygienist when a patient mentioned that a Capitol Police Officer was down."I was following things online as much as I could," Crampsie said. "Of course, in the beginning, you don't get much information.""We found out later on about the car going into one of the barriers. We had some moments when we really didn't know. it was very stressful. Once things were under control, (Gino) was able to text Colleen and let her know things were OK."The Crampsies had attended Giantesano's graduation from the Capitol Police Academy in Washington, D.C."We're especially proud of what he decided to do, and what he continues to do," Crampsie said.adding to the emotional impact of the events, Thursday was Colleen's 39th birthday, he said. The young couple, who have two children, live in Alexandria, Va.Crampsie pointed out that Giantesano is working without pay due to the partial government shutdown that began early Tuesday."They are working, and they are not getting paid. Things are tough emotionally the way it is, and then you have something like this happen," Crampsie said. "But they are a team, they are family among themselves."Efforts to reach Gino Giantesano, a 1991 graduate of Panther Valley High School, were unsuccessful Friday.After graduation, Giantesano enlisted in the Marines. Four years later, he enrolled in Penn State University, graduating with a degree in law enforcement. Shortly after that, he successfully applied for a job with the Capitol Police Force.The woman who rammed the barricade, identified as Miriam Carey of Stamford, Conn., was shot dead by police.