The White House was placed on lockdown Friday after a woman with mental issues ran into a barrier near the building, according to the Secret Service.
Authorities immediately took the unnamed woman into custody at around 3:30 p.m., after she allegedly drove a white Chevrolet van with Tennessee plates into a barrier near the White House at E Street NW and 17th Street NW. No shots were fired and no officers were injured during the incident, according to reports.
Though her identity wasn’t made immediately available, a police official told NBC News that the woman has mental issues and is known to the Secret Service as someone who has been near the White House before.
Sources told CNN that the suspect is not believed to have been targeting President Donald Trump.
Trump was hosting Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull at the time but neither were ever in any danger, NBC noted.
UPDATE: The female driver of the vehicle was immediately apprehended by Secret Service Uniformed Division Officers.
— U.S. Secret Service (@SecretService) February 23, 2018
“This minivan came and crashed into the barricade and tried to push through the barricade and his tires were burning rubber and a lot of smoke was coming up,” witness Chris Bello, 50, told reporters near the scene, according to Reuters.
“And then about 30 seconds after that the two security guards that were in the booth, you know, ordered him to stop doing what he was doing and he didn’t listen.”
BBC reported that the White House was placed on lockdown and security officials are on high alert.
The back windshield of the vehicle had been busted out but it’s currently unclear how that happened, according to ABC News. Law enforcement also told the station that the Secret Service Explosives Ordnance Disposal team has examined the vehicle. The result of their examination is not immediately known.
[Featured Image: AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite]
