A person who opened fire at officers near a security checkpoint at the White House has died after being shot by law enforcement officials, according to statements from the U.S. Secret Service. The incident occurred at approximately 6 p.m. ET on Saturday, prompting a temporary lockdown and heightened security measures in the vicinity.
The Secret Service reported that a preliminary investigation indicated the individual approached a checkpoint and, without warning, produced a weapon and began firing at officers stationed there. Law enforcement personnel responded by returning fire, striking the suspect. The individual was then transported to a local hospital but succumbed to their injuries. As per information available with TahirRihat.com, the episode triggered a swift response from multiple law enforcement agencies, including the Metropolitan Police Department, to secure the area.
During the exchange of gunfire, a bystander was also struck. A law enforcement official conveyed that it remains unclear whether the bystander was hit by the suspect’s initial rounds or by the gunfire from the responding officers. The Secret Service has confirmed that none of its officers sustained injuries during the incident. President Donald Trump, who was present at the White House during the shooting, was reportedly not affected.
The incident unfolded near 17th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue NW, a location just one block from the White House. Journalists working in the White House press area reported hearing multiple gunshots and were instructed to seek shelter within the press briefing room. Evidence of the shooting was visible on the sidewalk outside the White House complex, with crime scene tape and orange evidence markers placed by U.S. Secret Service officers.
Selina Wang, a senior White House correspondent for ABC News, shared a video on X capturing the moment she heard what she described as dozens of gunshots. Wang, who was filming a routine social media post, is seen reacting to the sound of gunfire and taking cover in the media tent situated along the White House driveway. As of Saturday evening, the video had been shared thousands of times and viewed over three million times.
The Metropolitan Police Department reported on X that the Secret Service was managing the scene and advised the public to avoid the area. This particular location is near where a gunman ambushed two members of the West Virginia National Guard the previous November. In that earlier incident, U.S. Army Specialist Sarah Beckstrom, 20, died from her wounds, while Andrew Wolfe, then 24, was critically wounded. Rahmanullah Lakanwal has been charged in connection with that attack.
Saturday’s shooting follows another security incident that happened nearly a month prior that law enforcement authorities deemed to be an attempted assassination of the president on April 25 as he attended the annual White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner at a Washington hotel. Cole Tomas Allen, of Torrance, California, recently pleaded not guilty to charges that he attempted to kill Trump and remains in federal custody.
Following that earlier scare, Secret Service officers shot a suspect who they said had fired at officers near the Washington Monument which is also near the White House. Michael Marx, 45, of Midland, Texas, was charged in a complaint filed in U.S. District Court in connection with the May 4 shooting. A teenage bystander was wounded in that incident (AP reported). Law enforcement authorities are continuing to investigate the recent shooting to determine the suspect’s motives and any potential connections to other incidents.
Tahir Rihat (also known as Tahir Bilal) is an independent journalist, activist, and digital media professional from the Chenab Valley of Jammu and Kashmir, India. He is best known for his work as the Online Editor at The Chenab Times.
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