Another view near 17th & F. Police have blocked off the area, not letting people through. @WTOP pic.twitter.com/k3h83JreAq
— Michelle Basch (@mbaschWTOP) May 20, 2016
WASHINGTON — A Secret Service agent shot an armed man who refused to drop a gun he carried into a checkpoint near the White House Friday afternoon.
Shortly after 3 p.m., an armed man approached an outer perimeter checkpoint for the White House on E Street near 17th Street in Northwest D.C. Secret Service Uniformed Division Officers gave “numerous verbal commands” to the man, telling him to drop the weapon, but when he failed to comply, he was shot once by a Secret Service agent, said Secret Service spokesman David A. Iacovetti.
A U.S. law enforcement official said Friday evening that authorities had identified the gunman as Jesse Oliveri of Ashland, Pennsylvania. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the official was not authorized to release the information.
After receiving immediate medical attention at the scene, the man was transported to an area hospital where he is in critical condition.
There were no other injuries and gun was recovered at the scene.
The man with the gun reportedly said he wanted to die, a law enforcement source told CBS News’ Homeland Security Correspondent Jeff Pegues.
The shooting and the investigation caused a lockdown at the White House complex for about an hour. President Barack Obama was not there — he was playing golf — but Vice President Joe Biden’s office says he was in the White House complex and was secured during the lockdown.
Steve Snider, who was visiting the White House at the time of the shooting, said he didn’t hear gunshots, but Secret Service’s response made it “clear that there was something serious going on.”
“All of a sudden, the Secret Service came out and started screaming at everyone, ‘Move back, get away from the fence, get away from the street, move over into the park.’ Obviously there was some type of serious incident going on,” Snider said.
He, along with other tourists, school groups and government workers near the White House, were told to relocate to nearby Lafayette Square.
Earlier reports indicated that the shooting was on West Executive Drive.
Based on a preliminary investigation by the Metropolitan Police Department, the United States Secret Service, the United States Park Police, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, there is no known nexus to terrorism.
Below is a map of the location near the incident:
WTOP’s Michelle Basch and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
