UPDATED: The White House lawn and presidential residence itself was locked down after dozens of apparent gunshots rang out near the area, as reported by multiple publications and captured in video footage. The incident occurred around 6 p.m. ET.
The Secret Service said that an individual approached a checkpoint at 17th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue, removed a weapon from his bag and started firing at officers. Secret Service police officers returned fire and struck the suspect, who later died at a nearby hospital. A bystander was also struck, but it was unclear whether that person was struck by suspect or during the exchange of gunfire.
“No injuries were sustained by Secret Service personnel. The President was at the White House during the incident but was not impacted,” the law enforcement agency said.
FBI director Kash Patel tweeted that federal authorities were on the scene “supporting Secret Service responding to shots fired near White House grounds” and that updates would be provided as soon as possible.
The area of the shooting is outside the perimeter on the west side of the White House complex, but the West Wing is blocked from view by the Eisenhower Executive Office Building.
Numerous journalists were already present as part of a press pool, as Donald Trump had just hours earlier posted on social media from the Oval Office that a peace agreement to end the war in Iran was “largely negotiated.”
Upward of 20 to 30 shots were fired, according to NBC News correspondent Julie Tsirkin. “Secret service told those of us gathered on the north lawn to run inside the press briefing room,” she wrote.
Meanwhile, ABC News correspondent Selena Wang posted that she had been in the middle of taping a social video when she and her crew were interrupted by the noise of gunfire, immediately ducking down.
“We were told to sprint to the press briefing room where we are holding now,” she said.
Secret Service agents were spotted on the grounds with their weapons drawn, telling reporters to “get down” before being ushered into the West Wing press briefing room, per Fox News. The outlet also said correspondents overheard shots near the Eisenhower Executive Office Building.
According to CNN, the lockdown was lifted after 45 minutes. Cable news networks turned to coverage of the incident throughout the evening.
The shooting comes less than a month after gunshots rang out amid the White House Correspondents Dinner. Trump, First Lady Melania Trump and VP JD Vance were among those hustled out of the Washington Hilton ballroom under orders from the Secret Service. The fast-moving scene was captured live on C-SPAN cameras.
Deadline’s Ted Johnson, who was inside, said, “I heard what sounded like four shots, and it seemed to come from the hall just outside the ballroom near my table.”
The suspect in the April 25 shooting, Cole Tomas Allen, recently plead not guilty after being charged with attempting to assassinate the POTUS. Allen was also charged with discharging a firearm during a violent crime and transportation of a firearm and ammunition in interstate commerce.
On May 4, a man opened fire on Secret Service agents as they were pursuing him at 15th Street and Independence Avenue, a couple of blocks from the White House but along the route of Vance’s motorcade, authorities said. The armed man, Michael Marx, of Midland, Texas, was shot in the hand, left side and and upper abdomen, and was charged with assaulting federal officers with a dangerous weapon, using and discharging a firearm during a crime of violence and unlawful possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. A civilian witness was also wounded in the leg during the incident.
Security at the White House itself has been an ongoing concern for decades, with greater barriers put in place for access amid various incidents. A higher fence was installed around the perimeter following security breaches that included a 2014 occurrence in which a man climbed over the fence and gained entry into the Executive Mansion.
The north side of the White House on Pennsylvania Avenue was closed off to vehicle traffic in 1995, over concerns of a car or truck bomb. But lately access has been restricted to pedestrians, too, as the plaza just in front of the White House fence has been partially taken up by construction equipment for the construction of the new East Wing ballroom. Lafayette Park also has been sealed off for construction activity there.
