A gunman opened fire near the White House North Lawn on May 23, 2026, at about 6 p.m. local time, prompting a security response in which U.S. Secret Service agents shot and killed the attacker while a bystander was also struck, officials and eyewitnesses said. President Donald Trump was inside the White House at the time and was not harmed, Secret Service communications chief Anthony Guglielmi said in a statement.
Journalists who had been reporting from the North Lawn described chaotic scenes as shots rang out. ABC News reporter Selina Wang said she was filming a social video on her iPhone when she heard what she called “dozens of gunshots” and was told to sprint to the press briefing room, a moment she posted on X. NBC’s Julie Tsirkin, preparing to report, asked aloud, “What is that?” as gunfire continued and camera crews took cover. All reporters on the lawn were ordered to shelter in the briefing room.
Video circulated on social platforms showed the scramble and the immediate aftermath. Authorities said the assailant pulled a weapon from a bag and began firing before Secret Service agents engaged him. A Canadian tourist, Reid Adrian, told AFP he heard “probably 20 to 25” sounds he first thought were fireworks before people began running. Officials have said a bystander was struck in the exchange; further details about injuries had not been released in the initial statements.
The shooting follows a series of recent security incidents involving the president. About a month earlier, on April 25, 2026, an armed man ran past a hotel checkpoint at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner and was intercepted by the Secret Service. In July 2024, a gunman at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, killed a member of the audience and lightly wounded the then-candidate in the ear, and months later another armed man was arrested on a West Palm Beach golf course where Trump was playing.
Trump has cited earlier alleged attempts on his life in arguing for expanded White House security and facilities. He has pushed ahead with a controversial $400 million project to replace the East Wing with a new “drone-proof” ballroom and multiple underground levels, which he has described as including an underground military hospital. Further details and official updates on the May 23 shooting were being awaited from law enforcement and the Secret Service.
Original Source: https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/white-house-shooting-video-journalists-duck-for-cover-as-gunman-opens-fire-11539364#publisher=newsstand
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Publish Date: 2026-05-24 07:21:00
