Donald Trump escorted from presser after shooting outside White House

Guwahati: US President Donald Trump was abruptly removed from a White House press conference on Monday after Secret Service guards shot a person outside White House. The man was armed as said by Trump after being briefly evacuated in the middle of the press conference.

During the conference, an agent walked on the podium as Trump was speaking and whispered in his ear. Trump was seen as surprised and was heard saying “What’s happening,” as he left the room with the agent abruptly. The White House was then placed under lockdown during the incident.

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Trump reappeared nine minutes later in the press conference where all the journalists had been locked in and announced the incident of a shooting in the White House grounds. He said that he had no idea about the identity or the motive of the alleged shooter, but from what he understands, the man was armed. He added, “It might not have had anything to do with me,” saying that the incident took place outside of the White House perimeter. “I don’t believe anything was breached; they were relatively far away.”

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The Secret Service in a statement on Twitter said that a 51-year-old male suspect has been shot when he approached the officer and told him he had a weapon. The incident occurred at the corner of 17th street and Pennsylvania Avenue NW at around 5:33 pm. “The suspect then turned around, ran aggressively towards the officer, and in a drawing motion, withdrew an object from his clothing. He then crouched into a shooter’s stance as if about to fire a weapon. The Secret Service officer discharged his weapon striking the individual in the torso,” read the statement. Both the officer and the suspect were later taken to the hospital.

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Following the security scare, Trump immediately resumed his press conference. When asked if he was rattled by the incident he replied, “The world’s always been a dangerous place. It’s not something that’s unique.” He even praised the Secret Service terming them as “fantastic people, the best of the best.” “I feel very safe with the Secret Service. A lot of terrific looking people ready to go if something was necessary,” he added.