A U.S. Secret Service agent walks with law enforcement vehicles in the background near the White House, after alleged gunshots were heard nearby, in Washington, D.C., U.S., May 23, 2026. | Photo Credit: REUTERS/Kylie Cooper

The US Secret Service shot a person near the White House on Saturday, and a bystander was also shot, a law enforcement official said.

Both individuals were said to be in critical condition, according to the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to discuss the investigation.

Journalists working at the White House on Saturday reported hearing a series of gunshots and were told to seek shelter inside the press briefing room.

On X, the Secret Service said it was “aware of reports of shots fired near 17th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue NW” -- one block from the White House -- and was “working to corroborate the information with personnel on the ground”. It said it will have an update shortly.

In a social media post, FBI Director Kash Patel said officers were responding to shots fired and said he would “update the public as we’re able”.

President Donald Trump was inside the White House at the time.

Journalists recount dramatic moments

In a post shared on X, Selina Wang, the senior White House correspondent for ABC News, shared dramatic video of the moment she said she heard what “sounded like dozens of gunshots” and ducked for cover. Writing that she had been performing a task that reporters at the White House do day in and day out -- filming themselves on a cellphone, for a social media post -- Wang’s video shows her speaking for a few seconds about Trump’s statements earlier Saturday about a potential Iran deal.

As the sounds of gunfire are heard in the background, Wang’s eyes grow wider, and she ducks down in the media tent, which is among those situated in a line along the White House driveway where broadcasters film their reports. On X, Wang’s video had been shared thousands of times as of Saturday evening, and viewed at least 3 million times.

Area linked to previous violent incidents

The Metropolitan Police Department said on its X Account that the Secret Service was working the scene and cautioned people to avoid. The scene is near where a gunman ambushed two members of the West Virginia National Guard last November.

US Army Specialist Sarah Beckstrom, 20, died from her wounds. Andrew Wolfe, then 24, was critically wounded. Rahmanullah Lakanwal has been charged in that incident.

Fresh security scare near White House

The gunfire Saturday comes nearly a month after what law enforcement authorities said was an attempted assassination of the president on April 25 as he attended the annual White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner at a Washington hotel. Cole Tomas Allen, of Torrance, California, recently pleaded not guilty to charges that he attempted to kill Trump and remains in federal custody.

Following that scare, Secret Service officers shot a suspect they said had fired at officers near the Washington Monument, also near the White House. Michael Marx, 45, of Midland, Texas, was charged in a complaint filed in US District Court in connection with the May 4 shooting. A teenage bystander was wounded in that incident.

Published on May 24, 2026