Washington: A US Secret Service officer shot a man with a gun who approached a checkpoint outside the White House on Friday afternoon and refused to drop his weapon. The White House was briefly placed on a security alert after the shooting, which happened within view of sightseers as sidewalks were crowded with families, school groups and government workers.
The armed man approached the checkpoint accessible to the general public on E Street shortly after 3 pm, and ignored repeated orders from the officer to drop his gun, according to a statement from Deputy Assistant Director Office of Government and Public Affairs, United States Secret Service, David A Iacovetti.
The Secret Service agents gave numerous verbal commands for the accused to stop and drop the firearm. "When he failed to comply with the verbal commands, he was shot once by a Secret Service agent and taken into custody," David said.
"The Secret Service recovered a firearm at the scene," he said, adding the man has been admitted to a nearby hospital.
As a precautionary measure, the White House was immediately put under lock down. President Barack Obama was not present on the premises at the time of the incident as he had gone to play golf at Andrews Airforce Base. The Secret Service agents also rushed to Vice President Joe Bide for additional security.
During a search of the man's vehicle parked near 17th Street and Constitution Avenue, federal agents found ammunition for a .22 caliber weapon.
A US law enforcement official said that authorities had identified the gunman as Jesse Oliveri of Ashland, Pennsylvania. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the official was not authorized to release the information.
Federal agents found ammunition inside a Toyota sedan, parked nearby on Constitution Avenue, that the gunman was believed to have driven, the official said.
Sightseer Jenna Noelle of Austin, Texas, said she had just taken a photo of the White House when she noticed a man harassing an agent. Then, "as we were walking away we heard a shot fired, then some people started running away and agents had guns and were evacuating people."
Community activist Akil Patterson said he heard a single gunshot while waiting in a security line. Within seconds, a security guard shouted to drop to the ground, and then he was evacuated to the street.
Patterson said he was at the White House to get a presidential award for his work with Baltimore teens. He says his community work aims to "get rid of the notion that gun violence is the answer."
With Agency Inputs
