Man Shot Near White House Dies in Hospital

Marcelino Corniel, the knife-wielding homeless man shot by police in front of the White House, died Wednesday night after undergoing two lengthy operations and remaining in critical condition for 36 hours.

Corniel, 33, died from cardiac arrest in the intensive care unit at George Washington University Hospital, less than four blocks from the shooting scene, about 9 p.m. EST, said Rich James, a hospital spokesman.

Corniel was shot once in the abdomen and once in his right leg by a uniformed U.S. Park Police officer about 9 a.m. Tuesday after he ran across Pennsylvania Avenue to the White House sidewalk with a hunting knife taped to his arm.

President Clinton who was working in the Oval Office at the time of the incident, was never in danger. The President went ahead with an early morning jog Wednesday, but he followed a route less public than usual.

On Wednesday, the U.S. attorney’s office filed a single charge accusing Corniel of assaulting a federal officer, an offense that carries a penalty of up to 10 years in prison upon conviction. Had no knife been involved, the maximum penalty would have been three years in prison, officials said.

U.S. Park Police have declined to name the officer who shot Corniel, but said he has been assigned to administrative duties while officials review the shooting. A spokesman said the police communications department “got a few threats against his life.”

A semicircle of at least four officers was facing Corniel as he stood on the Pennsylvania Avenue sidewalk. Shots rang out suddenly and he fell to the ground.

Officials defended the shooting as a justified use of force because the man did not follow orders to give up his weapon.