Officers at a White House checkpoint responded to gunshots on Saturday evening, and a shooting suspect was "down" and taken to a hospital, a law enforcement official told Reuters .
A person approached the checkpoint at 17th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue near the White House and started shooting at officers, according to the official.
The suspect is "down" and was transported to George Washington Hospital, the official said. He did not specify the suspect's condition or how he was brought down.
The confrontation took place just after 6 PM (2200 GMT) when a man near the White House security perimeter "pulled a weapon from his bag and began firing."
"Secret Service Police returned fire striking the suspect who was transported to an area hospital where he was pronounced deceased. During the shooting one bystander was also struck by gunfire," Secret Service communications chief Anthony Guglielmi said, without giving details on the bystander's condition.
No Secret Service officers were hurt.
The suspect was identified as an emotionally disturbed person, the official said, adding that a "stay-away order" had been issued to the suspect previously. Fox News host Bret Baier cited a senior administration official as saying that a gunman approached the west side of the White House and fired three times.
Secret Service agents returned fire and shot the gunman, while a bystander was struck in the exchange, he said on X. The gunman never breached the White House security perimeter.
Police and security forces swarmed the White House on Saturday evening after shots were fired in the area, authorities said.
I was in the middle of taping on my iPhone for a social video from the White House North Lawn when we heard the shots. It sounded like dozens of gunshots. We were told to sprint to the press briefing room where we are holding now. pic.twitter.com/iqdQwh4soq — Selina Wang (@selinawangtv) May 23, 2026 US President Donald Trump was at the White House at the time as he worked to negotiate a deal with Iran, but was not impacted by the incident, Guglielmi said in a statement.
Police cordoned off access to the White House, and National Guard troops blocked an AFP reporter from entering the area in downtown Washington.
"FBI is on the scene and supporting Secret Service responding to shots fired near White House grounds," FBI Director Kash Patel said on X.
Canadian tourist Reid Adrian told AFP he was in the area when "we heard probably 20 to 25 what sounded like fireworks, but they're gunshots, and then everyone started running."
Journalists who were on the White House North Lawn at the time said on X that they were ordered to run and shelter in the press briefing room. ABC News correspondent Selina Wang had been recording a video for social media when the apparent gunfire broke out, capturing the sounds of the shots as she dove to the ground.
"It sounded like dozens of gunshots," she said on X.
A Secret Service spokesman told AFP in a text message that the agency was still gathering information about the incident.
Trump, 79, has been the target of three alleged assassination attempts , the most recent of which took place on 25 April when an armed man stormed a security checkpoint near the ballroom where Trump was attending a media gala.