Armed suspect shot outside White House, Trump evacuated from briefing

Trump praised the Secret Service response and said the agency would have more details on the event later.

US President Donald Trump leaves a coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic briefing at the White House in Washington, US, August 10, 2020. (photo credit: KEVIN LAMARQUE/REUTERS)
US President Donald Trump leaves a coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic briefing at the White House in Washington, US, August 10, 2020.
(photo credit: KEVIN LAMARQUE/REUTERS)
US President Donald Trump was abruptly escorted from the White House briefing room on Monday shortly after a shooting outside the fence surrounding the complex.

Trump returned to the media room after several minutes and said a person had been shot by law enforcement and to the hospital. He said he understood the suspect had been armed.

"It was a shooting outside of the White House," Trump said. "It seems to be very well under control. ... But there was an actual shooting, and somebody has been taken to the hospital. I don't know the condition of the person."

He said the shooting was near the fence at the edge of the White House grounds.

Nobody else was wounded in the shooting, Trump said. He praised the Secret Service response and said the agency would have more details on the event later.

"There were no details - we just found out just now," Trump told reporters.

The Secret Service later confirmed the incident in a statement on their official Twitter account.

"The Secret Service can confirm there has been an officer involved shooting at 17th Street and Pennsylvania Ave," the statement said. "Law enforcement officials are on the scene. More information to follow."

In a later statement, the Secret Service explained that both the suspect and the Secret Service officer were hospitalized, and an investigation into the officer is ongoing.
"the investigation into a USSS officer involved shooting is ongoing. A male subject and a USSS officer were both transported to a local hospital. At no time during this incident was the White House complex breached or were any protectees in danger," the statement explained.

The president's daughter Ivanka Trump took to social media afterward the incident to express her thanks for the Secret Service.
"Thank you, @SecretService," she tweeted.

 

Minutes into a news briefing, Trump was taken out of the room with no explanation for the disruption. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought were also taken out of the room and the doors were locked.

Trump told reporters he was taken to the Oval Office outside the briefing room after he was escorted out.
Omri Nahmias and Jerusalem Post Staff contributed to this report.