Gunman Killed Near White House After Opening Fire; Trump Unharmed

A gunman who opened fire near the White House was killed after Secret Service agents returned fire, according to media reports.

Reuters reported on May 23 that the U.S. Secret Service received a report of gunfire near Pennsylvania Avenue NW and 17th Street, close to the White House in Washington. CBS News reported that dozens of shots were heard at the scene at about 6 p.m. The Secret Service said the suspect fired at agents near a security post before agents returned fire and subdued him.

CBS reporters at the scene said they heard roughly 15 to 30 shots. One passerby was injured, while no agents were reported hurt. Fox News reported that a Secret Service spokesperson said the male suspect was taken to a hospital, where he was later pronounced dead. The network added that he had a history of mental illness.

President Donald Trump was inside the White House at the time of the shooting. The intersection where the gunfire erupted is next to the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House complex, about 200 meters in a straight line from the main White House building.

The motive has not been confirmed. CNN, citing multiple sources, reported that the suspect was a 21-year-old man who had previous run-ins with the Secret Service. He was arrested in June 2025 after blocking a White House access road. At the time, he claimed he was God and was taken to the Washington Institute of Psychiatry for a mental evaluation. He was arrested again in July 2025 after trying to enter a road leading into the complex, and a judge later ordered him to stay away from the White House.

The shooting was the third such incident near the White House in the past month. On May 4, a suspect armed with a gun opened fire on law enforcement officers near an intersection southeast of the Washington Monument, triggering a gun battle. On April 25, an armed man carrying a shotgun, handgun and knife fired a weapon and charged through a security screening area at the Hilton hotel, where the White House Correspondents' Association dinner was being held, before authorities subdued him.

Kim Dong-hyun, Hankyung.com reporter 3code@hankyung.com