The White House was evacuated Friday after a man jumped a fence and was able to enter the building before Secret Service agents could stop him.
The suspect, 42-year-old Omar Gonzalez of Texas, scaled the fence and ran across the North Lawn before making his way to the North Portico doors. He was caught just after making his way into the White House and taken to George Washington Medical Center to be evaluated, said Secret Services spokesman Brian Leary.
After the incident, part of the White House was evacuated as a precaution.
“The incident is under investigation and the U.S.S.S. will review the response, to make sure proper protocol was followed,” Leary said.
Though the incident caused the White House to be evacuated for a brief time, there was never any danger to the president. Barack Obama and his daughters had departed from the South Lawn to go to Camp David shortly before the incident occurred.
This is not the first time someone has tried to either infiltrate or attack the White House . In 2011, a man who friends say called Obama “the anti Christ” fired shots at the White House. Witnesses said they heard “eight sounds of popping noise” and saw “puffs of air” from a car on Constitution Avenue, near the White House.
Oscar Ramiro Ortega-Hernandez, 21, was charged with trying to assassinate the president. He would later be sentenced to 25 years in prison.
Barack Obama has not been the only target of White House attackers. In 1994, a 26-year-old Colorado man fired several shots at the White House while Bill Clinton was inside with his family.
Despite the past incidents, Friday’s appeared to be more unusual, said CNN White House producer Becky Brittain. She said in nine years of working the White House beat, she couldn’t recall another time that the White House was evacuated.
