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Kanishka Singh
Washington: The US Secret Service said its officers confronted an armed and “suspicious individual” near the White House, and that he later fired at them before fleeing on foot and being shot by law enforcement authorities.
The incident led to a brief lockdown at the White House.
Agents patrolling the outer perimeter of the White House complex just after 3pm on Monday (US time) identified a person who Secret Service deputy director Matthew Quinn said was a “suspicious individual that appeared to have a firearm”.
The figure briefly fled on foot after being approached by Secret Service officers and opened fire on them in 15th Street SW and Independence Avenue SW – close to the Washington Monument – Quinn said at a press conference.
Secret Service officers then fired at the suspect who was hit and then taken to hospital, Quinn said.
Vice President JD Vance’s motorcade transited through the area “not long before” the incident, Quinn said. There was no indication that the suspect intended to approach Vance’s motorcade, the Secret Service deputy director said.
A juvenile bystander was hit by the suspect, but the injuries were not life-threatening. The New York Times reported that the 15-year-old boy was grazed by a bullet and was being treated in hospital.
Agents observed “visual print of a firearm” in considering the individual’s behaviour as suspicious when he was spotted, Quinn said. The suspect was not on the White House property, he said.
The incident drew a large police presence, and came just over a week after a man tried to storm the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner – where President Donald Trump was in attendance – with guns and knives.
Cole Tomas Allen has been charged over the April 25 incident, in which a Secret Service officer was shot, although he was wearing body armour and was not seriously injured.
Quinn was asked if Monday’s incident was linked to “other recent attempts” on Trump’s life. Trump was in the White House when this incident unfolded.
“Whether or not it was directed to the president or not, I don’t know, but we will find out,” Quinn said.
Chris McDonald, a congressional affairs official with the Secret Service, said in an email to Congress that there was no indication the shooter was targeting anyone in the executive complex.
“President Trump was not in any danger, and there is currently no known nexus between the incident and the White House,” McDonald write, according to the Times.
At the time of Monday’s shooting, the Secret Service ushered journalists who were outside the White House into the briefing room, and Trump continued at the event he was attending without interruption.
Quinn confirmed that a weapon was recovered from the suspect but did not elaborate.
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