The U.S. Secret Service shot and killed a man who fired at officers at a security checkpoint near the White House, and a bystander was also struck by gunfire, officials said Saturday.
U.S. Secret Service agents walk at the White House on Saturday.
Gunfire erupted about 6 p.m. Eastern time after the man approached the checkpoint, pulled a weapon from his bag and started firing at the officers posted there, the agency said. The officers returned fire, hitting him. Authorities are still trying to determine whether the officers or the suspect shot the bystander, whose condition couldn’t immediately be determined.
President Trump was at the White House but wasn’t affected, officials said. The shooting took place amid heightened concerns about Trump’s safety, after a man with a loaded shotgun charged toward a hotel ballroom where he and cabinet members were attending the White House Correspondents’ Dinner last month.
The checkpoint is near the corner of 17th Street Northwest and Pennsylvania Avenue, an area typically crowded with tourists just outside the White House complex.
Video shared by journalists reporting outside the White House showed Secret Service agents mobilizing on the North Lawn after at least two dozen shots could be heard in rapid succession. Members of the press were instructed to shelter in place inside the White House briefing room. The lockdown has since been lifted.
“I was in the middle of taping on my iPhone for a social video from the White House North Lawn when we heard the shots. It sounded like dozens of gunshots. We were told to sprint to the press briefing room,” ABC News correspondent Selina Wang posted on X.
The shooting comes just weeks after the incident at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner in Washington. The suspect in that case, Cole Allen, was charged with attempting to assassinate Trump and a pair of firearms offenses, including discharging a gun during a crime of violence, following his arrest at the Washington Hilton.
Updates to follow as news develops.
Write to Sadie Gurman at sadie.gurman@wsj.com and Meridith McGraw at Meridith.McGraw@WSJ.com
