{Note: This story was appropriated from the Associated Press. My intentions are to
comment on how it fits into the agenda of Bush' recent suggestion that Pennsylvania
Avenue be opened to the public again. Although the the appearance and apprehension
of gunman is true, I question whether this was the act of an assailant, or was the whole
incident "theatrical," intended to support some other agenda--an excuse not to reopen
Pennsylvania, further fortify the White House from the public, and garner "sympathy" for
Bush's personal safety. I don't buy it, although I dream that miracles still happen.}
Gunman Is Shot Outside White House
WASHINGTON (AP) - A man brandishing a gun outside the
White House fence was shot by a Secret Service officer
Wednesday after a 10-minute standoff, officials said. The
episode triggered a tight security clampdown.
President Bush was safe in his residence, exercising, at the
time. Vice President Dick Cheney was working in his office.
Laura Bush was at the family ranch in Crawford, Texas.
The wounded man was Robert W. Pickett, 47, of Evansville,
Ind., according to law enforcement officials. He was taken to
nearby George Washington University Hospital where he was
to undergo surgery.
Secret Service officers on patrol heard shots fired about
11:30 a.m., White House press secretary Ari Fleischer said.
They spotted a man holding a gun, some distance from the
southwest gate.
The officers had ``a 10-minute standoff that was followed by
one shot to the suspect's leg and he was taken into custody,''
Fleischer said. He said the gunman's wound was not
life-threatening.
Secret Service spokesman Marc Connolly said an officer fired
one shot, which struck the gunman in the right knee, and no
shots were fired by the man during his encounter with police.
However, law enforcement officers were investigating whether
the man fired shots before police approached him.
Law enforcement sources, speaking on condition of
anonymity, said authorities were investigating the possibility
the man was trying to provoke a shooting by police.
The suspect, who was carrying a handgun, was not listed in
Secret Service files as a known threat to the president, law
enforcement sources said.
Neighbors back home described Pickett as a friendly man, an
accountant who had lived in a modest home in Evansville and
kept a neat lawn. He frequently jogged.
``I was really surprised. As far as I knew, he was an
outstanding neighbor,'' said Lewis Gates.
Secret Service agents were using metal detectors in an effort
to find shell casings to determine how many shots were fired
in the incident.
Connolly said the man had been ``brandishing a gun.''
A witness said she heard a popping sound, followed by
smoke. After that, Secret Service officers ``told him to `drop
it''' and then sit down. And then he ``slowly sat down on the
ground,'' said the witness, Sook Jo from Centreville, Va.
Dan Halpert, a tourist from Queens, N.Y., was headed to the
Holocaust museum, across the Mall from the White House,
when officers told him to get down and clear the area.
``We were all running away. It was scary,'' said Halpert, 24.
Another witness Martin Manley told CNN the gunman ``was
just standing in the street and randomly fired a few shots.''
He said the man jumped into bushes, was surrounded by
police but initially refused to surrender.
``Police were talking to him, telling him `it doesn't have to be
this way, put the gun down,''' Manley said. ``Then I heard one
shot and the police all rushed in.''
Connolly, the Secret Service spokesman, said nobody else
was injured, and the gunman never was inside the White
House fence.
Plainclothes police officers were guarding the emergency
room entrance where the man was taken. Secret Service
agents and police surrounded the White House.
Rep. Bob Clement, D-Tenn., said he was attending a White
House meeting when the Secret Service alerted people there
had been a shooting ``and not to leave the White House. ...
Believe it or not, it was very calm where we were.''
At the Treasury Department next door, the entrance between
the department and White House was immediately closed.
Security has been tightened in and around the White House in
recent years. The most significant change was the closing of
the section of Pennsylvania Avenue that passed in front of the
Executive Mansion. Wednesday's incident was on the
opposite side of the White House, the back side facing toward
the Washington Monument.
In May 1995, the Secret Service shot a man who scaled a
White House fence, carrying an unloaded gun. An official said
at the time the man had asked to see President Clinton.
Nine months earlier, a pilot died when he crashed a small
plane on the South Lawn of the White House. About a month
later, a man pulled a rifle from under his trench coat and
sprayed the front of the White House with bullets.
More than a mile east of the White House, in the summer of
1998, a gunman went on a shooting spree in the U.S. Capitol,
killing two policemen.
Russell Eugene Weston, 43, has been held since then. He has
not stood trial for the slayings because doctors have said he is
mentally ill and unable to do so.
In March 1981, a gunman shot President Reagan, press
secretary James Brady and a D.C. policeman outside a
Washington hotel as the president was getting into his
motorcade.
And... So what was the miracle that almost occured? Could have it been the gunman being apprehended without getting shot?
The first miracle would have been if Bush got shot! But then
that may have been a curse because then we'd have Cheney, the
Nazi-supporting warmongerer as President-select! Of course, another
miracle, or fate, would occur if Dickie Bird had another heart attack.
The Goddess can work in mysterious ways. As for the assailant, I
suppose that is a miracle, although the SS are peculiarly selective
about who they apprehend with one or two shots and who they turn into
swiss cheese.