Vice President JD Vance’s motorcade, with him in it, went through the area before the shooting, officials said.
WASHINGTON D.C., DC — A Secret Service police officer shot a person Monday near the Washington Monument after spotting a suspicious person, the Secret Service said.
Around 3:30 p.m., plainclothes Secret Service officers began following a suspicious person with a “visual print of a firearm,” said Matthew Quinn, U.S. Secret Service deputy director, during a news conference.
When the man, only identified as an adult, was approached by uniformed officers, he began running away while shooting at them, Quinn said. That’s when officers shot and injured him. It’s unclear how many times he was hit and by how many agents.
Vito Maggiolo, spokesman for the D.C. Fire and EMS Department, said emergency units transported an adult male to the hospital and were treating what appeared to be a teenage male for minor injuries. The younger man was injured in the shooting and “investigators believe he was struck by the suspect.”
Vice President JD Vance’s motorcade, with him in it, went through the area before the shooting. There is currently no known motive, but an investigation is underway.
No officers were injured, and a weapon was found at the scene, an agency spokesperson told WUSA.
An eye witness told WUSA they heard six gunshots in the area.
The Secret Service encouraged people to avoid the area as emergency crews responded to the shooting not far from the White House, where President Donald Trump was holding a small business event.
The White House was briefly locked down as authorities investigated the incident. The Secret Service ushered journalists who were outside into the briefing room, and Trump continued his event without interruption.
The Associated Press and WUSA9’s Alexa Henry contributed to this report.