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The Secret Service has shot an armed 27-year-old man directly outside the White House grounds, the agency announced.
An “armed confrontation” took place directly outside the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in the White House’s West Wing shortly after midnight on Sunday.
President Donald Trump was in Florida at his Mar-a-Lago compound in Palm Beach at the time of the shooting.
On Saturday, Washington’s Metropolitan Police Department relayed information to Secret Service and other law enforcement agencies that a “suicidal individual” may have been traveling to Washington from Indiana.
The bulletin warned that 27-year-old Andrew Dawson wanted to die by “suicide by cop” and was armed with a BB gun,The New York Times reports.
Secret Service officers patrol outside the White House on March 9 after an armed man was shot by agency personnel (Getty Images)
Secret Service agents saw the man in the warning’s vehicle parked near 17th and F streets 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,” according to a statement from Secret Service spokesperson Anthony Guglielmi.
No Secret Service personnel was injured in the incident, which is now under investigation by the Metropolitan Police Department, which declined further comment when contacted by Reuters.
The Independent has requested comment from Metropolitan Police and Secret Service.
Agents found another weapon in the man’s car, CNN reports.
Police tape remains at the scene of an overnight shooting on a street bordering the White House complex, after Secret Service say they shot a man brandishing a firearm (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 alleged 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 who allegedly claimed he wanted to assassinate the president 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 [email protected], or visit the Samaritans website to find details of your nearest branch.
