WASHINGTON — A man standing alone amid a crowd of more than 100 people shot himself along the north fence line of the White House midday Saturday, according to witnesses.

Philipos Melaku-Bello, who was manning a nearby peace vigil, said the gunman was standing just inside the sidewalk on Pennsylvania Avenue, across from Lafayette Square. Melaku-Bello heard two shots fired in quick succession before he saw the man drop to the ground as people fled the area.

“Guns again!” someone shouted. “Guns again!”

One video posted on Twitter showed hundreds of people sprinting away as sirens blared in the background and emergency vehicles sped toward the scene.

“Do you think that was shots?” one woman asked, before she began to sob.

No one else was injured, according to the Secret Service, which also said in a tweet that the man was being treated for the wound.

President Trump was at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida at the time of the shooting but has been briefed on the incident.

 


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