Bullets Fired at White House; No One Injured

In the second such incident in as many months, bullets apparently were fired at the White House early Saturday, this time by a gunman who has not been found.

The President and First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton and their daughter, Chelsea, were asleep in the family quarters of the executive mansion when shots were fired at 2:05 a.m. EST.

“They were never in any danger,” said Secret Service spokesman Eric Harnischfeger. No one was injured.

Secret Service agents on duty at the White House and other witnesses reported hearing four to six gunshots from the grassy Ellipse south of the White House.

Hours later, according to Secret Service spokesman Dave Adams, authorities recovered two 9-millimeter bullets--one on the first-floor balcony over the South Portico of the White House and the other on the rear driveway. The balcony is a floor below the First Family’s living quarters.

Two other 9-millimeter slugs were found later in the day, also near the portico. Secret Service spokesman Carl Meyer said tests indicated all four bullets came from the same gun.

“The crime scene search has probably been completed,” Meyer added.

The first two bullets found were largely undamaged, officials said, indicating the possibility that they were fired from a distance. Authorities also acknowledged that the bullets could have been fired at random and simply fallen on the White House grounds by chance.

“There are bullets raining all over D.C.,” Meyer said, adding that the bullets could have been “just a stray couple of rounds.”

White House Chief of Staff Leon E. Panetta told reporters: “We don’t know if it was someone firing haphazardly from the Ellipse, whether it was someone who was driving by and firing.”

In an appearance on CNN’s “Evans & Novak” program, Panetta added: “We are living at a time when these incidents of violence take place not just in cities and communities around this country, they take place here in Washington in front of the White House.”

Authorities said they had no suspects and were not certain whether the shots were fired from a handgun or shoulder weapon.

The President appeared unfazed by the incident and left as scheduled later in the morning to deliver his weekly radio address from Northern Virginia Community College in suburban Annandale.

However, instead of leaving through the customary rear driveway, which investigators had cordoned off, he left through a Pennsylvania Avenue exit.

A White House spokesman said the President’s schedule was otherwise unaltered.

The President declined to answer reporters’ questions about whether he heard the gunshots and whether he felt safe.

Soon after the shots were fired, the President was awakened by Secret Service agents checking on his welfare, officials said. Panetta said he received a call from the Secret Service at 3 a.m. EST and spoke to Clinton about the gunshots later in the morning.

The episode, the third violent incident at the White House in four months, once again raised questions about whether the building is adequately protected.

The Secret Service has suggested creating a restricted zone around the White House, bounded by Pennsylvania Avenue to the north, Constitution Avenue on the south, 15th Street alongside the Treasury Department and 17th Street alongside the Old Executive Office Building.

But Panetta said the government must weigh any such move carefully.

“This is a free society,” he said. “It’s a democratic society. And we’ve got to be careful that we try to find that balance between protecting the President but also giving people, the people of this country, access to the White House.”

The results of a Treasury Department investigation of White House security are due to be released in January.

The investigation began after Frank Corder, an unemployed truck driver with a history of substance abuse, crashed a small plane onto the grounds of the White House on Sept. 12 in an apparent suicide.

On Oct. 29, a gunman sprayed semiautomatic weapon fire at the White House from Pennsylvania Avenue. Although the shots punctured the building’s exterior and the Press Room windows, no one was injured. He was wrestled to the ground by bystanders.

Francisco Martin Duran of Colorado Springs, Colo., was arrested and charged with 11 counts, including attempting to assassinate the President.

The scene at the White House in the early morning hours Saturday was eerie, as scores of Secret Service agents, U.S. Park Police officers and Washington metropolitan police officers combed the mansion’s expansive lawns and the adjacent public streets for clues.

Police on motorcycles congregated in the middle of Pennsylvania Avenue directly in front of the White House.

The normally well-traveled block was cordoned off to traffic Saturday. Pedestrians, normally free to stroll the walkway east of the White House, were ordered to cross the street away from the yellow police tape strung around the trees.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Shots Fired at White House

For the second time in less than two months, bullets were fired at the White House. About six shots were fired and one bullet was found on the first-floor balcony of the South Portico. A second dropped on the rear driveway and two others were found near the portico.