On November 27, gunshots rang out near the White House, and 500 soldiers rushed to the scene to seal it off!
At the intersection of H Street and 17th Street, less than 500 meters from the White House, two active-duty soldiers from the West Virginia National Guard were shot at close range while on duty on the street. One was shot in the abdomen, and the other sustained a through-and-through wound to the leg. Both were urgently taken to George Washington University Hospital, where their vital signs are stable but their condition is critical.
According to a statement by Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser, the shooter is a 32-year-old man whose identity has not been fully disclosed. However, law enforcement confirmed that he had followed the two soldiers for about 400 meters before the incident and suddenly drew a handgun and opened fire at 9:17 a.m.
Surveillance footage showed that at least one soldier fired back after being shot, firing a total of three bullets. The suspect was then subdued by Secret Service agents who arrived on the scene. During this process, the suspect was also injured but with minor injuries and has been detained at the Washington Metropolitan Police Department headquarters for interrogation.
Within 90 minutes after the shooting, the Pentagon authorized the emergency deployment of 500 fully armed National Guard soldiers from Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland and Fort Belvoir in Virginia into the city center.
According to internal Defense Department documents, these reinforcements completed their assembly at 10:45 a.m., equipped with M4 rifles, bulletproof shields, and tactical communication equipment. They established a three-layer security line around the North Lawn of the White House, Lafayette Square, and the Treasury Building, covering an area of approximately 1.2 square kilometers.
At the same time, Washington D.C. police, the U.S. Secret Service, the FBI's counterterrorism unit, and fire and emergency medical units arrived at the scene simultaneously. Two UH-60 "Black Hawk" helicopters took off within 20 minutes of the incident, conducting low-altitude surveillance and transmitting real-time thermal imaging footage to the joint command center. The entire blockade lasted nearly 5 hours, during which traffic on H Street in both directions was completely halted, and the Farragut West Metro station on the Red Line was temporarily closed.
The reason why the shooter opened fire is still unknown.
Original: www.toutiao.com/article/1849907288286539/
Statement: This article represents the views of the author.