Suspect dead after approaching White House checkpoint with weapon, Secret Service says

A person who approached a White House security checkpoint and began firing at officers has died, according to federal officials.

The U.S. Secret Service said in a statement late Saturday that, according to a preliminary investigation, the person approached a checkpoint shortly after 6 p.m. ET, removed a weapon from his bag and began firing at posted officers.

Officers returned fire and hit the suspect, who was transported to an area hospital, where he later died, according to the Secret Service.

A bystander was struck, but a law enforcement official said it wasnt clear whether that person was struck by the suspects initial bullets or those fired subsequently by officers.

Secret Service said none of its officers were injured, and that President Donald Trump who was at the White House at the time was not "impacted.

Evidence of the shooting was visible on a sidewalk just outside the White House complex, where yellow crime scene tape snaked across the pavement and officers with the U.S. Secret Service placed dozens of orange evidence markers on the ground. Medical material, including what appeared to be purple surgical gloves and kits typically used by emergency medical personnel, were also seen.

RELATED STORY | Lawyers move to disqualify officials who witnessed Correspondents Dinner attack

The gunfire Saturday comes nearly a month after what law enforcement authorities said was an attempted assassination of the president on April 25 as he attended the annual White House Correspondents' Association Dinner at a Washington hotel. Cole Tomas Allen, of Torrance, California, recently pleaded not guilty to charges that he attempted to kill Trump and remains in federal custody.

Following that scare, Secret Service officers shot a suspect they said had fired at officers near the Washington Monument, also near the White House. Michael Marx, 45, of Midland, Texas, was charged in a complaint filed in U.S. District Court in connection with the May 4 shooting. A teenage bystander was wounded in that incident.