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Two uniformed US secret service officers fatally shot dead a man on Wednesday during an apparent confrontation with an intruder at the residence of the Peruvian ambassador to northwestern Washington, Columbia County Police said.
Authorities say they believe the man broke the windows of a secluded residence west of Rock Creek Park and was holding a metal stake as he approached officers who were called by members of the ambassador’s family after hearing glass shatter. .
District of Columbia Police Chief Robert J. Conti III said police tried to subdue the man with stunning pistols. When that failed to stop him, Conti said, officers shot him using their service weapons.
An unidentified man died on the spot. Conti said the initial investigation did not show any connection between the man and the embassy, and police did not know if he was targeting the building or the people inside.
“This is completely unusual,” the boss said.
The incident happened shortly before 8 am and sent Columbia Secret Service and police officers to run to the closed residence at block 3000 on Garrison Street NW, in the Forest Hills neighborhood.
Conti said members of the ambassador’s family had called the Secret Service in charge of security and patrols at foreign embassies and their properties to report burglary.
The police chief said that the Secret Service officers “found a person who was in the back of the ambassador’s residence. They learned that this man had broken several windows.
The terrain covers about three acres half a mile east of Connecticut Avenue, in a forest surrounded by Broad Branch Road. Officials said the large house was fenced in, but the gate to its long alley was open. The Peruvian Embassy is located near Dupont Circle.
Police said the ambassador and his wife were at home at the time of the attack. Peruvian officials could not be reached for comment on Wednesday; although the Peruvian embassy tweeted: “The ambassador, his family, residence staff and secret service agents are safe.”
Police said the man was described as a man in his late 20s and early 30s. Conti said it was unclear if he had entered the building. The embassy tweeted that he had “entered the official residence without permission”.
Wednesday’s shooting is being investigated by the District of Columbia police, which is investigating all fatal shootings by law enforcement in the area. Federal officials who fired were not identified.
Police did not say how many times the officers were shot and where the man was hit.
The chief said two Secret Service employees had been examined at a hospital, but the cause could not be determined. The secret services announced that no employees were injured.
In 2020, a secret service officer shot and wounded a man near the White House who claimed to be armed and made threatening gestures, although they later learned he was holding only a comb. In 2016, a secret service officer shot and wounded a man holding a gun as he walked to a White House security booth. In 2013, authorities prosecuted a female driver who they believed violated a security barrier in the White House. U.S. Capitol police and Secret Service officers fatally shot her in front of the Capitol.
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