On the 23rd (local time), near the White House in Washington, D.C., a standoff between an armed assailant and Secret Service agents broke out and two people were shot. With shootings occurring in succession around the White House and at events attended by the president, some are questioning whether there are serious holes across the entire security system.
According to combined reports from major local outlets including the AP and Fox News, the incident took place at the intersection of Pennsylvania Avenue and 17th Street NW, just outside the White House complex. Around 6 p.m., the Secret Service Uniformed Division Threat Response Team rushed to the area after a report that someone had fired a weapon near the White House. In the process, a gunfight involving the armed assailant and agents erupted, and two people were hit. Reporters near the Eisenhower Executive Office Building by the White House said they heard dozens of shots, as many as 30, describing the scene.
As gunfire rang out, the White House immediately went into full lockdown around 6:30 p.m. ABC News chief White House correspondent Selina Wang posted on X a video capturing the moment gunshots sounded and she took cover. Wang said, "While I was recording video for social on my iPhone on the North Lawn area, I heard gunshots," and added, "It sounded like dozens of shots, and we were all instructed to sprint to the press briefing room where we are now on standby," describing the scene.
In the video, Secret Service agents armed with rifles surrounded and moved through the North Lawn area, shouting "Get down" to reporters. Agents then controlled the White House grounds and evacuated journalists with weapons drawn, as the tense situation continued. The lockdown was lifted around 6:45 p.m., when police began to get the scene under some control.
President Donald Trump was reportedly in the White House residence at the time of the incident. Earlier, Trump said in the Oval Office that negotiations to end the war with Iran were nearly concluded. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director Kash Patel said in a statement on X, "Law enforcement has responded to the scene and is supporting the Secret Service responding to a shooting incident near the White House grounds," adding, "We will update the public as much as possible." The Secret Service also said it was aware of reports of shots fired around 17th Street and confirmed it was "cross-checking information on the shooting report through personnel on the scene." The Washington, D.C., Metropolitan Police Department issued no separate announcement.
Security threats targeting President Trump up close have surged in recent weeks. On the 25th of last month, a mass shooting broke out at the White House Correspondents' Dinner venue. The suspect at the time, Cole Thomas Allen, sprinted through a security checkpoint with a shotgun and engaged in a gunfight with pursuing agents. Allen faces multiple charges including attempted assassination of President Trump but maintains his innocence. On the 4th of this month, Michael Marks, an armed man in his 40s, fled a screening near the National Mall by the White House and engaged in a gunfight with Secret Service agents. As a result, one teenager was injured.
Security experts spoke in unison about the public safety jitters in the heart of America. Cory Alpert, a U.S. policing expert, said in an ABC interview, "It is becoming increasingly difficult to hire Secret Service agents qualified to protect President Trump and his staff," noting, "Persistent criticism over security failures and political polarization are putting Secret Service agents in ever greater danger." Another former special agent, Jeff James, advised in a CBS News interview, "To thwart increasingly sophisticated lone-actor attack attempts, the level of control around the White House needs to be ratcheted up further."