The U.S. Secret Service said on Monday its officers confronted an armed and “suspicious individual” near the White House who later fired at them before fleeing on foot and being shot by law enforcement.
“They called in support from our marked, uniformed, Secret Service police to make contact with that individual,” Quinn said.
After contact with the suspect was established, the suspect ran and opened fire in the direction of the Secret Service; uniformed officers then returned gunfire, according to Quinn.
The suspect is currently hospitalized. The condition and identity of the suspect remains unknown.
Quinn said that one bystander, a juvenile, was believed to have been hit by the suspect. The juvenile did not sustain any life-threatening injuries and is being treated at a hospital.
Gunfire erupted outside the White House before Vice President JD Vance was scheduled to drive through, but it remains unclear whether he was the target of the shooting.
“I’ll point out that not long before this shooting occurred, the vice president’s motorcade did transit through this area,” Quinn noted.
The suspect’s weapon has since been recovered, roughly one mile south of the White House, Quinn said.
The Secret Service urged people to avoid the area as emergency crews responded to the shooting a short distance from the White House, where President Donald Trump was hosting a small business summit.
Trump continued his event without interruption.
The Secret Service ushered journalists who were outside into the briefing room, and the White House was briefly locked down as authorities investigated the shooting.
The incident comes on the heels of a foiled assassination during the White House Correspondents Association dinner at the Washington Hilton, the third such attempt on Trump’s life.
Quinn said it’s still unclear whether the Monday incident was related to Trump, and he declined to speculate on it.
“Whether or not it was directed to the president or not, I don’t know, but we will find out,” Quinn said.
The Metropolitan Police Department will be leading the investigation to examine use of force in Monday afternoon’s shooting, the Secret Service said.
Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.Â
