The man shot near the White House on Monday — briefly halting the President’s press briefing — “ran aggressively” towards a Secret Service agent and claimed to have a weapon, authorities said as quoted by New York Post.
The shooting of the 51-year-old suspect by a federal officer happened at 5:50 p.m. right outside the White House at the corner of 17th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue NW, the Secret Service said in a statement.
“The suspect approached the officer and told the officer he had a weapon. The suspect then turned around, ran aggressively towards the officer, and in a drawing motion, withdrew an object from his clothing,” the federal agency said.
The man then “crouched into a shooter’s stance as if about to fire a weapon,” before the officer opened fire, striking the man in his torso. Both the suspect and officer were taken to local hospitals.
The shooting disrupted President Trump’s coronavirus briefing as he was whisked away from the podium by Secret Service agents.
Reporters in the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room were also briefly placed into lockdown with the Secret Service surrounding the West Wing. Trump later returned to the briefing and addressed the incident, telling reporters he did not fear for his safety during the dramatic episode.
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