On Saturday evening in Washington, a shooting occurred near the White House, after which the US Secret Service temporarily evacuated journalists and increased security measures.
According to CNN, the Secret Service investigated reports of a shooting at the intersection of 17th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue near the White House complex. After the incident, armed agents were spotted at the White House, and the press briefing room was temporarily closed.
DC News Now reporter Chris Flanagan stated that US President Donald Trump was at the White House during the incident.
Later, PBS, citing its reporter Liz Lander, reported that the president was unharmed and safe.
According to Fox News, the incident at the White House has been resolved and the armed individual was neutralized. The channel noted that the person was unable to enter the secure area of the presidential residence and only approached its perimeter.
It is reported that two people were wounded in the shooting— the suspected gunman and very likely one bystander.
The director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Kesh Patel, stated that FBI agents arrived at the scene and supported the Secret Service.
CNN, citing a Secret Service spokesperson, reported that the suspicious person who opened fire near the White House checkpoint was taken to the hospital after being shot by US Secret Service agents, but his life could not be saved.
US President Donald Trump and other protected individuals were not injured in the shooting near the White House. This was stated in a statement by the US Secret Service.
"There were no casualties among the agents. The president was at the White House during the incident, and this did not affect the protected individuals or operations being conducted," the document said.
The statement noted that the attacker approached from 17th Street and Northwest Pennsylvania Avenue (the distance from the shooting site to the White House area is approximately 150 meters – Note), drew a weapon, and began firing. Secret Service agents returned fire and wounded the attacker.
He was then taken to a nearby hospital where doctors declared him dead. The agency reported that one person was wounded in the shooting but did not provide detailed information about their condition.
It should be noted that Federal Bureau of Investigation employees are conducting an investigation at the scene.
The New York Post reported that the perpetrator of the incident is 21-year-old Nasire Best./Report