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Shooting outside the White House: what we know so far

A man shot himself outside the White House on Saturday.

The White House is on lockdown after a man shot himself outside of it on March 3. Alex Edelman/Getty Images
Emily Stewart covers business and economics for Vox and writes the newsletter The Big Squeeze, examining the ways ordinary people are being squeezed under capitalism. Before joining Vox, she worked for TheStreet.

A man shot himself outside of the White House on Saturday, The United States Secret Service said. President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump were not in the White House when the incident occurred. The man died from his injuries.

What we know

  • The US Secret Service said on Twitter midday Saturday that personnel were responding to reports of a person who allegedly suffered a self-inflicted gunshot wound along the north fence of the White House.
  • The Secret Service said in a statement that the man died after pulling out a handgun and firing several shots, none of which appeared to have been directed at the White House.
  • Medical personnel attended to the victim. No other injuries related to the incident were reported.
  • White House Deputy Press Secretary Hogan Gidley, who was with the president in Mar-a-Lago, Florida, on Saturday, said the president had been briefed about what happened. “We are aware of the incident,” Gidley said.
  • Secret Service spokeswoman Cathy Milhoan told CNN the victim suffered a single gunshot wound, and Secret Service personnel did not fire any shots.
  • One video posted on Twitter and flagged by the Washington Post shows people sprinting away from the scene with sirens in the background.

What we don’t know

  • The victim’s identity and motive.

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