Shooting near White House in US: Trump urged sending 500 troops to Washington, – Hegseth
Photo: US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth (Getty Images)
On Wednesday, 26 November, an unidentified individual opened fire on two National Guardsmen two blocks from the White House. For this reason, US President Donald Trump requested that an additional 500 troops be sent to Washington.
This was stated by US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, according to CNN.
"This will only stiffen our resolve to ensure that we make Washington, DC safe and beautiful," he said.
He added that he would send a request to the Secretary of the Army.
Update on shooting in Washington and shooter
Earlier media reports stated that two US National Guard servicemen were killed in the shooting near the White House.
According to CNN, the suspect approached the guards intending to attack them, and first shot one of the guards, who was only a few feet away.
According to one of the sources, the suspect then shot the second soldier, who was attempting to take cover behind a bus stop shelter.
A source reported that the suspect is not cooperating with investigators, and at the time of his arrest, he did not have identification documents.
Killed or injured
At the moment, information about the condition of the soldiers is rather contradictory. The Governor of West Virginia wrote on X that both soldiers had died. However, he later retracted his statement.
He wrote in a new post that they were receiving conflicting reports about the condition of the two Guardsmen and would provide updates once more complete information became available.
Meanwhile, FBI Director Kash Patel stated that the soldiers were in critical condition.
He added that, since the incident was an attack on a federal law-enforcement officer, it would be treated as a federal crime and that the FBI would lead the investigation.
The Mayor of Washington, Elizabeth Bowser, said that the suspect had deliberately opened fire on US National Guard personnel.
The police stated that there were no other suspects besides the one detained.
Assistant Chief of the Metropolitan Police Department Jeff Carroll said that, at that moment, there were no signs of an additional suspect and that the sole individual involved in the incident had been shot during the confrontation and taken to a hospital for treatment.
US President Donald Trump also commented on the incident. In his social-media post, he wrote that the "animal" who opened fire on the Guardsmen will be punished.
