Suspect dies after firing at White House checkpoint

The Secret Service says a person who approached a White House security checkpoint and began firing at posted officers died after being transported to an area hospital. Officers returned fire and none of the Secret Service officers were injured; a bystander was

WASHINGTON — The first gunshots rang out near the White House after 6 p.m. ET on Saturday, and within moments officers at a security checkpoint had to decide how quickly to respond.

In a statement late Saturday, the U.S. Secret Service said that. based on a preliminary investigation. the person approached a White House security checkpoint “removed a weapon from his bag and began firing at posted officers.” Officers returned fire and hit the suspect. The Secret Service said the suspect was transported to an area hospital, where he later died.

The Secret Service said none of its officers were injured, and that President Donald Trump — who was inside the White House at the time — was not “impacted.”

A bystander was struck, but a law enforcement official said it was not clear whether the person was hit by the suspect’s initial bullets or by rounds fired subsequently by officers.

On the ground, evidence of the shooting was visible near the White House complex. Yellow crime scene tape stretched across a sidewalk, and officers placed dozens of orange evidence markers on the pavement. Medical materials. including what appeared to be purple surgical gloves and kits typically used by emergency medical personnel. were also seen.

White House journalists said they heard a series of gunshots on Saturday and were told to seek shelter inside the press briefing room.

The Secret Service said earlier it was aware of reports of shots fired near 17th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue NW — about one block from the White House — and that it was working to corroborate information with personnel on the ground. The agency said it would provide an update shortly.

FBI Director Kash Patel said officers were responding to shots fired and that he would “update the public as we’re able.”

After the sound of gunfire filled the area. ABC News senior White House correspondent Selina Wang shared video from inside the press area on X. In the video. Wang described how she was performing a routine task that White House reporters do daily — filming herself on a cellphone for a social media post — when she heard what she said “sounded like dozens of gunshots” and ducked for cover. She was filming while Trump made statements earlier Saturday about a potential Iran deal. The video had been shared thousands of times and viewed at least 3 million times as of Saturday evening.

The Metropolitan Police Department said on its X account that the Secret Service was working the scene and warned people to avoid the area.

The shooting on Saturday landed in a security environment already shaped by recent attacks. The scene was near where a gunman ambushed two members of the West Virginia National Guard last November.

U.S. Army Specialist Sarah Beckstrom, 20, died from her wounds in that incident. Andrew Wolfe, then 24, was critically wounded. Rahmanullah Lakanwal has been charged in that attack.

The gunfire also came nearly a month after what law enforcement authorities said was an attempted assassination of Trump on April 25. when he attended the annual White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner at a Washington hotel. Cole Tomas Allen. of Torrance. California. pleaded not guilty to charges that he attempted to kill Trump and remains in federal custody.

After that April scare. Secret Service officers shot a suspect they said had fired at officers near the Washington Monument — near the White House. Michael Marx, 45, of Midland, Texas, was charged in a complaint filed in U.S. District Court in connection with the May 4 shooting. A teenage bystander was wounded in that incident.

White House Secret Service checkpoint shooting President Donald Trump Washington DC bystander injured FBI Kash Patel 17th Street Pennsylvania Avenue