The White House in Washington, D.C. has been put on lockdown due to a suspicious package in the area, local officials say. Only few details were immediately available.
The incident began at about 5:30 p.m. ET on Monday when a suspicious package was reported near the northwest gate of the White House. There was no word on why the package was being treated as suspicious.
“Secret Service personnel are responding to reports of a suspicious package in the area of Penn Ave and Lafayette Park,” the Secret Service said in a tweet. “Pedestrian and vehicular traffic impacted.”
As a result of the incident, the White House has been put on lockdown as a precaution while the Secret Service investigates. Surrounding streets have been cordoned off by police.
The White House has been the scene of a number of security alerts over the past year.
Most notably, in March 2017, a man climbed over a fence at the White House and was able to walk on the grounds for 16 minutes before being taken into custody. He was not able to enter the building itself. And earlier this month, a 26-year-old man committed suicide in front of the White House.
(Copyright 2017 by BNO News B.V. All rights reserved. Info: sales@bnonews.com.)
