The man who rammed into Capitol police and attempted to slice them with a knife, bought that weapon just hours before the fatal incident ... suggesting he premeditated the whole attack.
TMZ has obtained shots of Noah Green in a D.C. kitchen appliance store 90 minutes before authorities say he drove his car into a barricade at the Capitol last week and proceeded to get shot and killed after getting out to attack officers with a knife.
Green was in District Cutlery -- about a 10-minute drive from the Capitol -- and he purchased the blade you see here. We're told it's a Kurosaki Shizuku Sujihiki 270mm SG2 knife, and it retails for about $300.
You can see the knife he purchased at the store looks identical to the one police recovered at the scene after Green was gunned down, and a Capitol Police officer was killed.
Eyewitnesses say Green was calm and collected during his purchase, and didn't seem to raise any red flags to bystanders.
Police haven't determined a clear motive yet for Green's attack, but this knife shopping trip seems to eliminate any chance he made a spontaneous decision to wreak havoc.