THE WHITE HOUSE was placed on lockdown this evening and the surrounding area cordoned off by emergency personnel after an apparent gunshot was heard.
The US Secret Service said on Twitter that it was responding “to reports of a person who allegedly suffered a self-inflicted gunshot wound along the north fence line of @White House”.
President Donald Trump is not at the White House at present. He’s in Florida, but is set to return later this evening.
The agency said in a Twitter post that there are no other reported injuries related to the incident.
It said medical personnel were “responding to the male victim,” but that there were “no other reported injuries.”
The victim’s identity is as yet unknown.
Reporters tweeting from the White House briefing room said they had been told to shelter in place. Police cars and ambulances swarmed to the area minutes after the incident.
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders has said: “we are aware of the situation, the president has been briefed.”
Disturbances outside the White House are not rare. On 23 February a woman was arrested after crashing her vehicle into a security barrier near the presidential residence.
And there have been repeated attempts to jump over fences around the building.
With AP
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