A gunman who fired at a White House checkpoint was shot by officers and died after being taken to the hospital on Saturday evening, the Secret Service said.
The White House initiated lockdown procedures when the gunshots were heard, and the lockdown was lifted once the shooter had been identified and neutralized.
Reporters who were at the scene at the time of the shooting claimed to have heard between 20 and 30 shots.
ABC News reported during the event that the White House North Lawn had been cleared by Secret Service, and that reporters had been told to “sprint into the White House Press Briefing Room.”
The Secret Service Office of Communications announced on X/Twitter that there had been “reports of shots fired near 17th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue NW,” and that the agency was “working to corroborate the information with personnel on the ground.”
FBI Director Kash Patel stated that the FBI was on the scene assisting the Secret Service.
In a Sunday morning Truth Social post, US President Donald Trump thanked the security agents involved for their “swift and professional action taken this evening against a gunman near the White House, who had a violent history and possible obsession with our Country’s most cherished structure.”
The shooting “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, DC. The National Security of our Country demands it!”
Suspect taken down, pronounced dead in hospital
The shooting suspect was shot and brought to the hospital after approaching a checkpoint near the White House and opening fire on officers there, Reuters reported.
The scene had been contained, and no law enforcement personnel were injured.
The suspect was identified as an emotionally disturbed person, a law enforcement official told Reuters, adding that a “stay-away order” had been issued to the suspect previously.
Both wounded parties were taken to a nearby hospital, where the Secret Service later announced that the shooting suspect had died.
The White House lockdown was lifted following the event.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the shooter, saying he was relieved that Trump “is safe and that the attacker was neutralized before he could cause any further harm.”
“Political violence, including repeated attempts to assassinate President Trump, should be unequivocally and forcefully condemned by all.”
Trump announces peace agreement between US, Iran, in hours before shooting
Only a few hours before the shooting, Trump had announced that he was “in the Oval Office at the White House,” where he said a peace agreement had been “largely negotiated” among the United States, Iran, and several Middle Eastern countries.
The shooting also came approximately one month after Trump and his wife, Melania, were evacuated from the White House Correspondents’ Dinner by Secret Service after shots were fired outside of the ballroom where the dinner was being held.
The shooting suspect, armed with a shotgun, a handgun, and several knives, fired at a Secret Service agent, an FBI official told Reuters, adding that the agent was hit in an area covered by protective gear and was not harmed, and that the suspect was taken to the hospital for evaluation.
Reuters, Tzvi Jasper, Miriam Sela-Eitam, and Hannah Brown contributed to this report.
