White House on security alert, as Secret Service shoots man with gun near the White House

 

The White House was placed into lock down for over an hour on Friday afternoon after a man was shot outside the White House grounds near the executive branch complex by a uniformed Secret Service agent after approaching a checkpoint with a gun and refusing commands to drop it.

Larry Samples who was an eye witness said
"He was carrying a gun- it was a silver gun in clear sight, walked through the fence line. They surrounded him and immediately tried to stop him and came up to him,". "Yelled at him multiple times 'stop, stop, stop.' He kept ignoring the call." and was eventually shot in the abdomen and taken into custody.

The man was only identified as a white male by federal officials.


Officials said the man was brandishing the gun and was shot after refusing several commands to drop it. No one else was hurt.

President Barack Obama was not at the White House at the time of the event and has been notified of the situation, a White House official said. Vice President Joe Biden was on the grounds, but was reportedly quickly secured inside.

The White House lock down was lifted by 4 p.m.

The Secret Service confirmed only that there was a police-involved shooting, and that all Secret Service protects are safe.