Washington: An armed man was shot at and critically injured by the US Secret Service outside the White House even as the official residence of the American President was put on lockdown for more than an hour.
The incident took place at around 3.06 PM (local time) yesterday when the a person, carrying a firearm, approached an outer perimeter checkpoint accessible to the general public on E Street near the White House, the Secret Service said.
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," Deputy Assistant Director Office of Government and Public Affairs, United States Secret Service, David A Iacovetti said.
"The Secret Service recovered a firearm at the scene," he said, adding the man has been admitted to a nearby hospital.
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."
"I had a panic attack," she added. "I'm doing OK now, but it was pretty freaky to be right there a second before it happened. Not really the experience we wanted," she added.
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."
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.
No law enforcement personnel and bystanders were injured during the incident.
