Shots Fired Outside White House, Suspect Dead: Secret Service

A suspect who fired gunshots near the White House on the evening of May 23 was killed by Secret Service agents, the agency said in a statement.

“Shortly after 6 p.m. Saturday an individual in the area of 17th street and Pennsylvania Avenue pulled a weapon from his bag and began firing,” the Secret Service wrote on X.

The individual, who has not been identified, was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital.

The Secret Service said a bystander was also struck by gunfire, but it didn’t specify who fired the shot. This person’s condition is unknown.

No officers were injured, the Secret Service said, and President Donald Trump was inside the White House at the time.

The shooting remains under investigation.

FBI Director Kash Patel wrote on X, “FBI is on the scene and supporting Secret Service responding to shots fired near White House grounds – we will update the public as we’re able.”

The DC Metropolitan Police Department said in a post on X that the Secret Service is working the scene.

“Please avoid the area,” it said.

Trump had opted to remain at the White House over the weekend instead of attending his eldest son’s wedding.

He told reporters earlier this week: “This is not good timing for me. I have a thing called Iran and other things. That’s one I can’t win on. If I do attend, I get killed. If I don’t attend, I get killed—by the fake news.”

Several lawmakers took to X to praise federal agents and offer prayers.

“We are praying for President Trump, the Secret Service, and all at the White House,” House Majority Whip Rep. Tom Emmer (R-Minn.) wrote on X.

“God bless the men and women of Secret Service and law enforcement.”

Rep. Morgan Griffith (R-Va.) thanked the Secret Service on X for working day and night to keep Trump safe.

“Political violence is never acceptable,” Griffith wrote.

Rep. Mike Collins (R-Ga.) placed blame on extreme rhetoric for violence directed at the White House.

“The continued violence directed at the President is despicable and is the product of the divisive and extreme rhetoric of the left,” Collins said on X. “I’m truly thankful for the brave men and women in law enforcement who ran toward the gunfire.”

On the afternoon of May 23, before the gunshots were heard, Trump posted on Truth Social that the United States and Iran had nearly reached a peace agreement.

Trump said he had concluded talks with leaders of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Egypt, Bahrain, Jordan, Turkey, and Pakistan regarding efforts to resolve the standoff with Iran.

“An Agreement has been largely negotiated, subject to finalization between the United States of America, the Islamic Republic of Iran, and the various other Countries, as listed,” Trump wrote.

The shooting outside the White House occurred nearly a month after the incident at the April 25 White House Correspondents’ Dinner, when an alleged gunman, Cole Allen, breached a security checkpoint near the ballroom and shot a Secret Service agent. Members of the Trump administration and hundreds of guests, including Epoch Times staff members, were inside the ballroom when gunshots rang out.

Allen is facing four federal charges, including attempting to assassinate the president, assaulting an officer of the United States with a deadly weapon, and two firearms charges.

Trump, in a post-midnight post on Truth Social on May 24, thanked Secret Service and law enforcement officers for their “swift and professional action.”

He said the suspected gunman had a violent history and “possible obsession” with the White House. He also said that the shooting was another example of “how important it is, for all future Presidents, to get, what will be, the most safe and secure space of its kind ever built in Washington, D.C.,” referring to the White House ballroom upgrade.

“The National Security of our Country demands it!” Trump wrote.

Funding for Secret Service security upgrades related to the project and the White House complex is currently being challenged and negotiated in Congress.