The U.S. Secret Service (USSS) shot an armed man from Indiana on Sunday just a block away from the White House following a confrontation. The incident took place after the agency had been alerted to the presence of a man acting in a suicidal manner by police.
Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi commented on the incident, saying, “Secret Service personnel were involved in a shooting following an armed encounter with a person of interest shortly after midnight on March 9 at 17th and G Streets NW.”
The man has been identified as 27-year-old Andrew Dawson and was said to have been armed with a knife and a firearm during the shooting, which occurred just after midnight. Dawson was taken to a local hospital after the shooting in unknown condition, while no USSS agents were reportedly injured.
It is also unknown what Dawson’s exact motivations were, and President Donald J. Trump was not in Washington, D.C., at the time.
However, the incidents come after two attempts on President Trump’s life in the last year, including when he was shot at a political rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, prior to the presidential election.
Ryan Routh, a former recruiter for Ukraine, has also been charged with trying to assassinate President Trump near the president’s Mar-a-Lago home in Palm Beach, Florida. The USSS detained Routh before he could carry out any attack; he has since pleaded not guilty to the charges.
