CNN, Washington :
A Secret Service agent on Friday shot a man near a security checkpoint close to the White House after he brandished a gun and refused orders to stop.
A Secret Service spokesman said the incident occurred shortly after 3 p.m. ET when a man carrying a gun approached a checkpoint on E Street near the White House. The suspect was given verbal commands to stop and drop the gun, and when he failed to comply, he was shot once by a Secret Service agent and taken into custody. Secret Service officers and an agent provided medical aid to the suspect, and the city’s EMS said he was transported to a local hospital with critical injuries. The suspect was shot in the abdomen, according to two sources familiar with the incident.
President Barack Obama was not at the White House, and Vice President Joe Biden was secured in the White House complex during the incident. “No one within or associated with the White House was injured, and everyone in the White House is safe and accounted for,” a White House official said. “The President has been made aware of the situation.” The White House went into a lockdown that was lifted around 4 p.m. ET.
A law enforcement official said investigators have located the suspect’s vehicle near the shooting area.
Law enforcement believes it has identified the suspect who approached the Secret Service checkpoint and was shot, two law enforcement sources told CNN. One of the sources said the man does not have a record with the Secret Service.
