By A man carrying a firearm was shot by U.S. Secret Service agents early Sunday morning near the White House, according to officials. Authorities had previously identified the suspect, who had traveled from Indiana to Washington, D.C., as a potential suicide risk.
At the time of the incident, President Donald Trump was not in Washington, as he was staying at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida, wrote CNN.
According to Secret Service Chief of Communications Anthony Guglielmi, USSS received information about a “suicidal individual” who was traveling to DC from Indiana. Guglielmi said in a statement that USSS members saw a person matching the description near the White House and found their parked car.
“As officers approached, the individual brandished a firearm and an armed confrontation ensued, during which shots were fired by our personnel,” Guglielmi said.
On March 8, DC Metropolitan police sent out a “BOLO” received from police in North Manchester, Indiana concerning a 27-year-old man driving to the Washington, DC area who may be armed, emotionally disturbed, and possibly trying to attempt suicide by cop, multiple law enforcement sources told CNN.
Officers found the man on foot just outside the Eisenhower Executive Office Building and about a block from the White House, the sources said. The officers confronted the man who pointed the gun at himself, ignored commands to drop the weapon and turned the gun in the direction of the Secret Service agents and officers, according to the law enforcement sources briefed on the incident. The officers then fired an unknown number of shots. An additional weapon, a rifle, was found in the car, according to the sources briefed.
The suspect was taken to a hospital for medical treatment, but his current condition remains unknown. The Metropolitan Police Department has launched an investigation into the shooting.
Over the summer, the Secret Service faced a huge scandal after a would-be assassin shot Donald Trump during an event in Butler, Pennsylvania.
President Trump recently appointed Sean Curran, who led Mr. Trump’s personal security detail during the campaign and rushed to shield him during the shooting, to be the next Secret Service director, noted The New York Times.
“Sean is a Great Patriot, who has protected my family over the past few years, and that is why I trust him to lead the Brave Men and Women of the United States Secret Service,” Mr. Trump wrote Wednesday on his social media platform, invoking the attempt on his life at a rally in July. “He proved his fearless courage when he risked his own life to help save mine from an assassin’s bullet in Butler, Pennsylvania.”
The newspaper explained that “Mr. Curran is from the New York City area and started his career as a special agent in the agency’s Newark field office. He later worked in the dignitary-protection division and on President Barack Obama’s detail, said Jonathan Wackrow, a former agent who worked for years with Mr. Curran.
Mr. Curran is an unusual pick for Secret Service director, a position that does not require Senate confirmation. As a current agent who does not work at the agency’s headquarters in Washington, he is leapfrogging many positions to become director.
“’While this is not traditional, there is nothing about this incoming administration that is traditional,’ said Mr. Wackrow, describing Mr. Curran as a trusted, detail-oriented agent with an intimate understanding of the agency and a sharp sense of humor. ‘He is very well-liked. He’s affable.’”
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