WASHINGTON: A man shot outside the White House was attempting suicide by walking up to security personnel with a gun, police said on Saturday.
On Friday afternoon, a US Secret Service officer shot and wounded Jesse Olivieri while he was brandishing a gun at one of the White House gates.
The 30-year old Ashland, Pennsylvania resident, who was shot in the abdomen, was in a stable condition at a hospital in Washington.
Law-enforcement officials said the shooting at the White House West Executive Drive had no links to terrorism.
The incident occurred just after 3pm when the areas around the White House was full of visitors, particularly because it was the first sunny day in weeks.
The US Secret Service said in a statement that Mr Olivieri approached the security gate holding a gun and that “officers gave numerous verbal commands for the subject to stop and drop the firearm. When the subject failed to comply with the verbal commands, he was shot once by a Secret Service agent and taken into custody.”
Security officials also confiscated his gun after the man fell on the ground.
Later, officials told reporters they believe Mr Olivieri was attempting suicide by walking up to a White House checkpoint with a gun in his hand.
“He was carrying a gun — it was a silver gun in clear sight, walked through the fence line,” witness Larry Samples told NBC News. “[Secret Service agents] yelled multiple times ‘Stop, stop, stop.’ He kept ignoring them.”
President Barack Obama was out golfing when the incident took place but Vice President Joe Biden was inside the White House complex at the time.
“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 on CNN. “The president has been made aware of the situation. Police forced people out of the area after the shooting, asking tourists, office workers and people with White House appointments to leave immediately. But in the evening, they allowed people to return, saying that it was a “solitary incident” and there was no reason to keep visitors and workers out. Police also blocked streets between 16th and 17th Streets NW, along with parts of the National Mall and a helicopter circled overhead.
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