The Metropolitan Police Department secured the area surrounding GW Hospital after a shooting at Saturday’s White House correspondents’ dinner.
An unidentified suspect fired shots at the Washington Hilton hotel about five minutes into the dinner Saturday night, prompting law enforcement at the event to evacuate President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance and other upper-level government officials. Over a dozen MPD cruisers blocked off traffic from moving past GW Hospital on 23rd Street and in Washington Circle as officers sealed off the sidewalks near the hospital with caution tape immediately following the shooting.
Law enforcement officials told the Associated Press that one U.S. Secret Service officer in a bullet-resistant vest was shot but is expected to survive, which Trump confirmed at a press conference following the dinner. One ambulance arrived at the hospital while the MPD blocked it off, but it is unclear if it is connected with the incident.
GW Hospital and the MPD did not immediately return a request for comment.
Secret Service Chief of Communications Anthony Guglielmi said in a statement on X at 9:24 p.m. that the agency and MPD had apprehended a suspect and were investigating the shooting that took place near the main magnetometer screening area of the event. He said the president, First Lady Melania Trump and other protectees are safe, but the condition of others involved is not yet known.
Officials issued a GW Alert at 9:32 p.m. — 30 minutes after the MPD had secured the intersection of 23rd and I Streets and Washington Circle — directing community members to avoid the area around the hospital.
MPD officers reopened the roads near GW Hospital just before 10:00 p.m., with MPD and Secret Service cruisers remaining stationed outside of GW Hospital on 23rd Street. GW officials issued an all-clear at 10:42 p.m.
White House Correspondents Association President Weijia Jiang announced at the event around 9:40 p.m. that the dinner was canceled after law enforcement recommended that people leave the premises, and the association will reschedule the event within the next 30 days.
The hotel is the same location where an attempted assailant shot President Ronald Reagan in 1981. Reagan received surgery at GW Hospital in the wake of the attempted assassination.
Gianna Jakubowski contributed reporting.
