Joe Biden pays tribute to ‘remarkable leader’ and ‘dear friend’ Jimmy Carter - as it happened

Jimmy Carter in Yazoo, Mississippi, in July 1977. The former US president has died. Photograph: Wally McNamee/Corbis/Getty Images

3.16am GMT

This blog is now closed. Thanks for reading.

3.05am GMT

Members of the Carter Protective Division of the US Secret Service are in mourning tonight as agents privately share stories in person and in group messages of the agency’s work guarding the former president and his family for nearly half a century, CNN reports.

“We’ve been planning for (today),” said the official, “but it’s still a gut punch.”

While in office and beyond, the Secret Service has maintained a protective detail for the Carter family based in Georgia.

“We’re not finished,” said the official, noting the Secret Service was working with the Defense Department to plan for Carter’s expected return to Washington DC, for a memorial service and his final resting back in Georgia.

“Dozens and dozens of agents had the honor of a lifetime to serve the Carters” the official said. “We’re coming to grips with the fact this era is now ending.”