The White House has been locked down after several gunshots were heard on Saturday evening.
DW’s Washington DC correspondent Benjamin Alvarez said there was a “heavy Secret Service, police and National Guard presence at 17th and H Street NW”, just outside the White House.
DC Police confirmed that the Secret Service was on the scene and urged the public to stay away from the area.
FBI Director Kash Patel said the FBI was supporting Secret Service agents at the scene near 17th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue NW.
What do we know about the shooting near the White House?
A law enforcement official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told reporters that a suspect had “collapsed”, without specifying his condition.
The suspect approached a police checkpoint at 17th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue outside the White House and began shooting at officers, the official said.
The official said a spectator was also shot.
The alleged shooter has been brought to George Washington Hospital.
The officer described the suspect as emotionally disturbed, who had previously been issued a “stay away order.”
US President Donald Trump was in the White House at the time of the shooting. It is not known whether he was the intended target.
He said in a post on his Truth social platform on Saturday evening that he was working on finalizing an agreement with Iran.
The scene of Saturday’s shooting is very close to the spot where two West Virginia National Guard soldiers were shot in November 2025. One soldier died, while the condition of the other is critical.
Saturday’s incident comes less than a month after Trump was targeted in what authorities say was an assassination attempt on April 25, when the president attended the annual White House Correspondents’ Association dinner at a hotel in the US capital.
A 31-year-old man has been charged with attempted murder.
Trump, 79, has survived two other alleged assassination attempts.
In July 2024, he was hit in the ear by a bullet aimed at him at an election campaign rally in Pennsylvania.
In September that year, a man was accused of plotting to kill Trump at a Florida golf course.
Edited by: Dmytro Lyubenko
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