The White House went into lockdown this afternoon after someone reported shots fired near the West Wing.
The president was at Andrews Air Force base 15 miles away. The White House reported that the president left to go golfing around 1 pm; his motorcade arrived at the golf course at 1:30. The shooting was at 3 pm Eastern Time.
Shooting on W. Executive Dr. PIO en route to 17th and Pennsylvania
— USPPNEWS (@usparkpolicepio) May 20, 2016
The Secret Service didn’t say where the shots occurred at first. West Executive Drive is within the White House security perimeter. It separates the Eisenhower Building offices from the West Wing.
Reporters in a meeting room were told to go into the basement at the White House.
Vice President Joe Biden was at the complex; a spokesperson said he is “secured.”
The Capitol Police are monitoring the situation at the White House. All parts of the Capitol building are open for now.
DC Fire and EMS reported one person was taken to the hospital with critical injuries.
UPDATE: Shooting at 17th and E Sts NW – 1pt transported with critical injuries to a local hospital #dctraffic
— DC Fire and EMS (@dcfireems) May 20, 2016
NBC is reporting that the shooting took place at 17th and E streets. A man brandished a gun outside on the grounds of the White House and he was shot.
A witness, Larry Staples, said he saw a man with a silver gun walking towards the White House. Officers told him to stop multiple times. An officer shot the man after he wouldn’t follow orders.
The police have not released anything about the suspect.
U.S. Park Police and members of the Secret Service are on the scene.
Another witness, 29-year-old Jared Sorhaindo, said he was walking past Pennsylvania Avenue when the shooting started. Secret Services officers were clearing the area.
He said:
“All of a sudden Secret Service start screaming, ‘Everybody across the street, now.’ People were running across Lafayette Park and they cordoned everything off.”
This is a developing story.
Featured image by Diego Cambiasco via Flickr, available under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic license.
