The Secret Service says a suspect opened fire on Monday near the National Mall after being confronted by officers.
Deputy Director Matt Quinn said agents returned fire during the incident, and a bystander was struck by the suspect.
Quinn added that Vice President JD Vance’s motorcade passed through the area shortly before the shooting, but there is no indication it was targeted.
The shooting occurred Monday afternoon near 15th Street and Independence Avenue, close to the Washington Monument.
The Secret Service urged the public to avoid the area as emergency responders arrived, with the scene located not far from the White House, where President Donald Trump was hosting a small business event.
The suspect was taken to a local hospital and said to be conscious and breathing.
Quinn said he believes the suspect’s gunfire struck a young bystander, who was injured. Though his age has not been confirmed, he is described as a “juvenile.”
“I can’t say, and we’ll let the doctors figure that out, but everything I’ve seen leads me to believe, and the investigators believe, he was struck by the suspect,” Quinn said.
According to other law enforcement sources, the young victim suffered a possible injury to his lower body. He was able to walk to an ambulance, where paramedics treated him before he was transported to a hospital under Secret Service escort.
The White House was briefly locked down as authorities investigated the incident. The Secret Service ushered journalists who were outside into the briefing room, and Trump continued his event without interruption.
Vito Maggiolo, spokesman for the D.C. Fire and EMS Department, said emergency units transported an adult male to the hospital and were treating what appeared to be a teenage male for minor injuries. He referred other questions to the police department.
The incident drew a large police presence, coming just over a week after a gunman tried to storm the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner with guns and knives. Cole Tomas Allen has been charged in that incident, in which a Secret Service officer was wounded.
