US police responding to dozens of shots fired near the White House

At the time of the incident, President Donald Trump was inside the White House. Police have restricted access to the area, while National Guard troops are preventing reporters from entering downtown Washington, DC. Al Jazeera’s Kimberly Halkett, reporting from the scene, mentioned that over 30 shots were heard from the White House's North Lawn. “Emergency vehicles and agencies have surrounded the White House. The president was in the Oval Office during the incident. The shots were fired outside, but the White House has not provided updates on the president's condition,” she reported. Journalists present on the North Lawn were instructed to run and take shelter in the press briefing room. Halkett noted, “While this has not been confirmed by the White House, witnesses and US media say a suspect approached the intersection of 17th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue. There, the suspect allegedly opened fire on the Secret Service security perimeter, where an agent and several Secret Service vehicles were conducting identification checks.” This gunfire incident occurs nearly a month after law enforcement stated there was an attempted assassination of the president during the annual White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner at a Washington, DC hotel on April 25.