The US Secret Service has shot an armed man directly outside the White House grounds, the agency has announced.
An “armed confrontation” took place directly outside the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in the White House’s West Wing shortly after midnight.
President Donald Trump was not in the White House at the time of the shooting, having decided to spend the weekend at his home in Palm Beach, Florida.
Earlier in the day, local police reported a “suicidal individual” who may have been traveling to Washington, D.C., from Indiana to the Secret Service, the agency added.
The bulletin warned about a 27-year-old Indiana man named Andrew Dawson with a last known address in the town of North Manchester, The New York Times reports. The individual was armed with a BB gun, according to the alert.
Secret Service agents saw the man in the warning’s vehicle parked near 17th and F streets, NW, before they spotted an individual matching police’s description nearby. An armed encounter followed near 17th and G Streets, a spokesperson for the agency said.
During the confrontation, the man pointed a gun at himself and then turned it towards the Secret Service officers, law enforcement sources told CNN.
The individual ignored demands to drop his weapon and the officers opened fire.
The man was taken to the hospital. His condition was not immediately known.
“As officers approached, the individual brandished a firearm, and an armed confrontation ensued, during which shots were fired by our personnel,” Secret Service spokesperson Anthony Guglielmi said on X (Twitter).
No Secret Service personnel were injured in the incident, which is now under investigation by the DC Metropolitan Police Department.
The Independent has contacted the Metropolitan Police and Secret Service for additional comment.
Agents found another weapon in the man’s car, CNN reports.
Washington’s Metropolitan Police said investigators from its internal affairs division were looking into the incident but declined further comment when contacted by Reuters.
There have been a series of incidents involving armed men being shot by security officers on or near the White House grounds over the years, including the 2016 shooting of a man who brandished a handgun at a White House security gate.
In May 2023, a 20-year-old Indian immigrant named Sai Varshith Kandula unsuccessfully tried to break through the White House’s protective barriers in a rented U-Haul truck.
Trump himself narrowly survived an assassination attempt in July, when a gunman fired at him during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, wounding his ear.
In September, a second attempt on his life was thwarted when a potential shooter was spotted hiding outside Trump’s golf club in West Palm Beach, Florida.
Florida police arrested a man last who allegedly claimed he wanted to assassinate Donald Trump and had control of missiles pointed at New York City, including Trump Tower.
If you are based in the USA, and you or someone you know needs mental health assistance right now, call or text 988, or visit 988lifeline.org to access online chat from the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. This is a free, confidential crisis hotline that is available to everyone 24 hours a day, seven days a week. If you are in another country, you can go to www.befrienders.org to find a helpline near you. You can speak to the Samaritans, in confidence, on 116 123 (UK and ROI), email jo@samaritans.org, or visit the Samaritans website to find details of your nearest branch.