A gunman opened fire on Secret Service officers at a checkpoint just steps from the White House on Saturday evening while President Trump was inside the building.

The suspect approached the checkpoint at 17th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue NW, near the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, shortly after 6 p.m. ET.

According to the Secret Service’s preliminary account, the individual removed a weapon from a bag and began firing at posted officers.

Officers returned fire and struck the suspect, who was transported to a local hospital where he later died.

The story started circulating fast on social media as the White House went into lockdown:

BREAKING🚨: Two people, including a possible suspect, were wounded in a shooting outside the White House at 17th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue NW near the Eisenhower Executive Office Building Saturday evening, law enforcement sources told CBS News.

Sources said the suspect… pic.twitter.com/FJ6mcNocSf

— Melissa Hallman (@dotconnectinga) May 24, 2026

A bystander was also struck during the incident, though initial reporting did not establish whether that person was hit by gunfire from the suspect or from the officers’ response.

No Secret Service personnel were wounded in the exchange.

As reported by CBS News:

A suspect was killed after opening fire on a Secret Service checkpoint outside the White House on Saturday evening. Secret Service officers returned fire, hit the suspect, and the suspect was transported to a hospital, where he later died.

A bystander was also wounded, while no Secret Service agents were injured. President Trump was at the White House during the incident, but Secret Service said he was not impacted, and a White House official said he was briefed on the shooting.

The shooting happened at 17th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue NW, near the Eisenhower Executive Office Building. Law-enforcement sources said approximately 15 to 30 gunshots were fired, and reporters on the White House North Lawn described hearing gunfire before Secret Service moved them inside.

The White House lockdown was lifted shortly before 7 p.m. CBS also cited sources familiar with the matter who said the suspect began shooting at a security booth where Secret Service officers were on guard, and that the officers returned fire without any agents being struck.

President Trump was later briefed on the shooting, according to CBS.

That matters because this was not some distant street crime that happened blocks away from the seat of government.

This was an armed person allegedly walking up to a White House security checkpoint and firing at the officers posted there.

The Associated Press confirmed the Secret Service account:

Federal officials said a person approached a White House security checkpoint and began firing at officers. The Secret Service said the preliminary investigation showed the person approached the checkpoint shortly after 6 p.m. ET, removed a weapon from his bag, and began firing at posted officers.

Officers returned fire and hit the suspect, who was taken to an area hospital and later died, according to the Secret Service account. A bystander was also struck, though it was not immediately clear whether that person was hit by the suspect’s initial gunfire or by gunfire fired afterward by officers.

None of the Secret Service officers were injured, and President Trump, who was at the White House at the time, was not impacted. The suspect’s name had not been released in the reporting available before publication.

The AP context made the timing even more serious. Journalists at the White House reported hearing a series of gunshots and were told to shelter inside the press briefing room, while federal and local authorities worked the scene near one of the most sensitive security zones in the country.

This is yet another reminder of the very real threats that surround this president every single day.

The same people who spent years whipping up hysteria around Trump, calling him every name in the book, will spend very little time reflecting on the climate they helped create.

The Secret Service officers at that checkpoint did exactly what they are trained to do.

They held the line, stopped the threat, and protected the White House while President Trump was inside.

There will be more details in the coming hours and days.

But the core facts are serious enough already: someone walked up to a White House security checkpoint and started shooting, and the men and women protecting the president responded immediately.