There is a large number of Federal Bureau of Investigation, FBI; the Secret Service and the police personnel on the scene after shots were fired near the White House.
Police and security forces swarmed the area around the White House on Saturday evening after reports of shots fired, AFP journalists said.
US President Donald Trump was at the White House at the time as he worked to negotiate a deal with Iran.
Police cordoned off access to the White House and National Guard troops blocked an AFP reporter from entering the area.
Journalists who were on the North Lawn at the time said on X that they were ordered to run and shelter in the White House press briefing room
Several journalists at the White House have reported the sound of possible gunshots nearby, BBC reports.
Footage shared by ABC News correspondent Selina Wang showed her taking cover as a volley of bangs could be heard ringing out across the White House’s north lawn.
It is currently unclear where the apparent shots originated from or if there is any ongoing threat.
“We were told to sprint to the press briefing room where we are holding now,” she wrote on X.
The BBC has contacted to the Secret Service, the White House and local police.
Secret Service spokesperson Anthony Guglielmi said in a statement to CBS News, the BBC’s US partner, that the agency was aware of “reports of shots fired near 17th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue NW” and are “working to corroborate the information with personnel on the ground”.
According to CNN, two people were shot and wounded in an encounter with Secret Service near the White House on Saturday.
The incident occurred near the intersection of Pennsylvania Avenue and 17th Street Northwest. The law enforcement official said officers from the Secret Service’s uniformed division responded to a report of a person firing a weapon when the incident took place.
FBI Director Kash Patel said on X that the agency “is on the scene and supporting Secret Service responding to shots fired near White House grounds – we will update the public as we’re able.”
The incident comes less than a month after the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, where reporters and Trump administration officials ducked for cover as shots rang out.
The suspect in that shooting, Cole Tomas Allen, sprinted through a security checkpoint with a shotgun in hand, exchanging fire with Secret Service agents who chased behind him, according to security footage. He has pleaded not guilty to attempting to assassinate Trump and to other charges.
