Gunman exchanges fire with Secret Service near Washington Monument

WASHINGTON — The US Secret Service shot and wounded an armed man on Monday afternoon just south of the White House in a burst of gunfire that also grazed a young bystander in an area packed with pedestrians, The New York Times reported. The incident led to a brief lockdown at the White House. Agents patrolling the outer perimeter of the White House complex identified a person who Secret Service Deputy Director Matthew Quinn said ⁠was a “suspicious individual that appeared to have a firearm.” He briefly fled on foot after being approached by Secret Service officers and fired in their direction, Quinn said at a press conference. Secret Service then fired at the suspect who was hit and subsequently hospitalized, he added. There was no indication that the man, who sustained multiple gunshot wounds, was targeting anyone in the executive complex, Chris McDonald, a congressional affairs official with the Secret Service, wrote in an email to Congress after the episode. “President Trump was not in any danger, and there is currently no known nexus between the incident and the White House,” McDonald wrote. Vice President JD Vance’s motorcade transited through the area — a heavily trafficked route for official vehicles, as well as people visiting the nearby Washington Monument — “not long before” the incident, officials told reporters. There was no indication that the suspect intended to approach Vance’s motorcade, they added. A juvenile bystander was hit by the suspect but did not receive any life-threatening injuries and was being treated at a hospital. No law enforcement officials were injured. The episode began around 3:30 p.m. near the intersection of 15th Street Southwest and Independence Avenue, when agents walked up to a man “who appeared to be carrying a weapon,” according to McDonald. On Monday, President Trump was holding an event at the White House around the time of the shooting. The Secret Service ordered reporters who were on the North Lawn of the White House to go into the press briefing room. The police blocked off a wide stretch of streets east of the Washington Monument until the start of the evening rush hour, frustrating drivers who use the major highway bridges connecting the District of Columbia and Northern Virginia over the Potomac River. The Metropolitan Police Department had said in a social media post that its officers were on the scene and that roads in the area would be closed for several hours. The police department is further investigating, Quinn told reporters. Dozens of law enforcement officials, as well as a substantial contingent of National Guard members in green uniforms, flooded the area after the shooting, snarling traffic and confusing tourists on a postcard-perfect spring day. Law enforcement have been on alert in recent days in the US capital following a shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner late last month ⁠over which a man has been arrested. Quinn was asked if Monday’s incident was linked to “other recent attempts” on President Trump’s life. “Whether or not it was directed ⁠to the president or not, I don’t know but we will find out,” Quinn said. He confirmed that a weapon was recovered from the suspect but did not elaborate.