U.S. President Donald Trump was abruptly escorted from a White House media briefing Monday afternoon by a U.S. Secret Service agent because of a shooting outside the building. Returning to the briefing room lectern minutes later, Trump said, “There was an actual shooting, and somebody’s been taken to the hospital.” The shots were fired by law enforcement, the president said. A male subject and a Secret Service officer “were both transported to a local hospital,” a Secret Service statement said. “At no time during this incident was the White House complex breached or were any protectees in danger.”Two gunshots were heard by at least one reporter who was in the briefing room. “I heard two shots in rapid succession just after you took the podium,” Fox News White House correspondent John Roberts told the president when Trump asked the journalist what he had heard. Here’s audio of the shots being fired: https://t.co/zrARtsyy6b@SecretService
— Steve Herman (@W7VOA) U.S. Secret Service Police stand outside the James Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House, in Washington, as a news conference by President Donald Trump was paused, Aug. 10, 2020.“You were surprised, I was surprised also,” Trump told reporters when he returned to the briefing room, saying he had been taken to the Oval Office. “I do want to thank the Secret Service. They are fantastic,” Trump said, adding that he was not certain the incident “had to do anything with me.” Asked by a reporter if he was rattled by the extraordinary event, he responded. “I don’t know. Do I seem rattled?” Trump told reporters he gave no thought to not resuming the briefing once the Secret Service told him it was safe to do so.
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