The U.S. Secret Service shot an armed man outside the White House early on Sunday following a confrontation, leaving him hospitalised, the agency said in a statement.
President Donald Trump was not in the White House at the time, as he is spending the weekend at his Florida residence.
‘Suicidal Person’
Secret Service officials received a tip on Saturday from local authorities that a suicidal person may be traveling to Washington from Indiana and the person’s car was found a block from the White House, it said in the statement.
“Around midnight, members of the Secret Service encountered the individual’s parked vehicle near 17th and F Streets, NW,” the statement said.
The security personnel saw an individual on foot matching the description nearby.
“As officers approached, the individual brandished a firearm and an armed confrontation ensued, during which shots were fired by our personnel,” the security personnel said.
The man brandished a firearm as officers approached him and the Secret Service opened fire shortly after midnight local time.
Hospitalised
The man was taken to an area hospital and his condition was not known, the statement said, adding that there were no injuries to Secret Service personnel.
Washington’s Metropolitan Police said investigators from its internal affairs division were looking into the incident but declined further comment.
There have been a series of incidents involving armed men shot by security officers on or near the White House grounds over the years, including the shooting, in 2016, of a man who brandished a handgun at a White House security gate.
In 2023, a 20-year-old Indian immigrant named Sai Varshith Kandula unsuccessfully tried to break through the White House’s protective barriers in a rented truck.
Trump himself narrowly survived an assassination attempt in July, when a gunman fired at him during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, wounding his ear. A Secret Service review found that communication gaps and a lack of diligence contributed to the near-miss.
(With inputs from Reuters and IBNS)
