A gunman has been shot dead after approaching a White House security checkpoint and firing at officers, federal officials have said.
The White House, where Donald Trump was present, was briefly locked down on Saturday as the sound of a sustained volley of gunshots rang out, sending journalists in the area running for cover.
During the shooting, a bystander was also shot. The Secret Service said: “It remains unclear whether the bystander was struck by the suspect’s initial gunfire or during the subsequent exchange of gunfire.”
No Secret Service personnel were injured in the exchange of gunfire, and the president was not affected by the incident, officials said.
Hours later, Trump praised the “swift and professional action” of law enforcement officials in a social media post. He noted that the incident came a month after a shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner at a Washington hotel, adding that it “goes to show how important it is, for all future presidents, to get, what will be, the most safe and secure space of its kind ever built in Washington, D.C”, in an apparent reference to his ballroom plans.
The suspect has not been officially named but multiple US media reported that he had a history of mental health issues and had been arrested last year trying to enter via a different White House checkpoint without authorization, and had been issued with a “Stay Away Order”.
The US Secret Service said that, shortly after 6pm local time, a man approached a checkpoint at a White House gate near 17th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue NW, took out a pistol and fired. Secret Service officers, who protect the US president and vice-president, returned fire, the agency said, “striking the suspect, who was transported to an area hospital, where he later died”.
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Earlier, Selina Wang, a White House correspondent for ABC News, shared video on social media of the sound of gunfire interrupting her as she recorded a report on US negotiations with Iran. In the clip, Wang could be seen diving to take cover as what “sounded like dozens of gunshots” rang out.
“We were told to sprint to the press briefing room, where we are holding now,” Wang added.
The FBI director, Kash Patel, posted: “FBI is on the scene and supporting Secret Service responding to shots fired near White House grounds – we will update the public as we’re able.”
Donald Trump said earlier that he was in the Oval Office but did not immediately comment on the reported gunfire.
Chris Flanagan, an anchor for the local news channel DC News Now who took cover in the White House briefing room, reported that about 30 shots were fired, but that the security lockdown had been lifted.
A CBS News producer also estimated that at least 20 shots had been fired, and the the Secret Service said in a statement at about 6:45pm local time that it was “aware of reports of shots fired near 17th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue NW and are working to corroborate the information with personnel on the ground”.
The shooting comes less than three weeks after a previous incident in which a man said to be brandishing a gun fired at a Secret Service officer near the route of JD Vance’s motorcade outside the White House. “A civilian witness standing behind the officer was wounded in his leg,” the Department of Justice said. Officers returned fire, striking the man in the hand, left arm and upper abdomen.
The gunfire Saturday also comes nearly a month after what law enforcement authorities said was an attempted assassination of the president on 25 April as he attended the annual White House Correspondents’ Association dinner at a Washington hotel.
