Woman with gun confronts S.C. Rep. Gowdy

Updated at 3:35 p.m. ET

(CBS News) A woman drew a pistol on Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., in a church parking lot in Spartanburg, S.C. Sunday evening.

While Gowdy was waiting in his car in the First Baptist Church parking lot for his daughter to finish service, a woman walked up to his car and told the congressman to stop following her. After denying the claim and explaining that he was waiting for his daughter, the woman drew a pistol and pointed it at the congressman, according to Gowdy's spokesperson Josh Dix.

The congressman put the car in reverse and drove out of the parking lot with the woman chasing him. Gowdy drove to the police station just a few blocks a way and reported the incident.

Gloria Yvonne Brackett, 52, was charged with illegally carrying a pistol and pointing a gun, the Associated Press reports. Her bond hearing is this afternoon.

Gowdy was escorted back to the church by patrol cars to pick up his daughter.

The woman is not believed to be a congregant of the church and there is no known link or prior meeting between the congressman and Brackett, Dix said.

Threats and acts of violence against members of Congress are not unheard of. The most prominent recent gun-related event occurred in 2011 when a gunman shot then-Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., in the head during a public event at a grocery story in Arizona, killing six people and wounding 13.

Gowdy, a former prosecutor and U.S. attorney, won his first term to Congress in 2010.

Gowdy's office released a statement Monday saying the congressman is grateful to the Spartanburg Public Safety Department for their help last night and especially for helping make sure his daughter was safe. Given the fact that this is an ongoing investigation with a subsequent prosecution, Gowdy's office said the congressman will not be making any additional comments.