Two National Guard members were shot Wednesday in a busy area near the White House in downtown Washington, officials said, putting the building on lockdown with President Donald Trump away in Florida.
West Virginia Governor Patrick Morrisey initially said in an X post that both victims were members of his state’s National Guard and had died from their injuries, but soon published a second statement citing “conflicting reports” about their conditions.
A Trump administration official said the shooting suspect had been taken to a hospital with gunshot wounds. The motive for the shooting was not immediately clear.
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Trump is at his Palm Beach resort ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday. US Vice President JD Vance is in Kentucky.
In a social media post, Trump called the suspected shooter an “animal” who would “pay a very high price” and praised the National Guard.
The shooting occurred near Farragut Square, a popular lunch spot for office workers just a few blocks from the White House. The park, whose streetlights are decorated with garlands and bows for the holiday season, is flanked by fast-food restaurants, a coffee shop and two subway stations.
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Stacey Walters, 43, was in an Uber near the White House at around 2:15 pm (local time) when she heard two loud bangs and saw young children and other pedestrians running from the scene.
She said she heard someone scream “Help! Help!” and saw what appeared to be U.S. Secret Service agents running after someone in a hooded sweatshirt.
Mike Ryan, 55, said he was on his way to buy lunch nearby when he heard what sounded like gunfire. He ran half a block and heard another series of gunshots.
When he returned to the scene, he saw two National Guard members on the ground across the street, with people trying to revive one of them. At the same time, other National Guard members had pinned someone to the ground, Ryan said.
The incident appears to have provoked a response from every law enforcement agency in Washington, from the Secret Service to the Metropolitan Police.
National Guard soldiers have been in Washington since August, when Trump sent them into the streets as part of his crackdown on immigration and crime in Democratic-led cities. As of Wednesday, there were about 2,200 National Guard troops in Washington, including troops from the District as well as from Louisiana, Mississippi, Ohio, South Carolina, West Virginia, Georgia and Alabama.
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Trump, a Republican, has repeatedly suggested that crime has disappeared from the capital as a result of the presence of the National Guard, which has been sharply criticized by Democrats.
