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Peace at any cost is a Prelude to War!
Armed man shot near White House
Robert Pickett of Evansville, Ind., was brought to George Washington
University Hospital Wednesday after being shot in the leg by Secret Service
agents.
Feb. 7 —White House press secretary Ari Fleischer describes what happened in
the shooting incident.
NBC NEWS AND WIRE REPORTS
WASHINGTON, Feb. 7 — Officials were searching for answers Wednesday
on why a 47-year-old accountant from Indiana would pull a gun near the White
House and refuse to drop his weapon until he was shot in the leg by a Secret
Service officer. The suspect, who was arrested after the 10-minute standoff,
was possibly suicidal, officials said.
February 7 — Dan Halpert, a New Yorker visiting Washington, D.C, describes
what he saw as shots were fired near the White House.
AS THE suspect, Robert Pickett, was wheeled into George Washington
University Hospital Wednesday, doctors described his mental state as unusual.
“Usually patients who are shot are in pain. They’re writhing. They’re
talking. They’re agitated,” Dr. John F. Williams, dean of the George
Washington University School of Medicine, said. Instead, doctors said Pickett
was not talking and completely motionless.
Doctors operated to remove bone fragments and a bullet from Pickett’s
leg. They also performed a psychological evaluation.
Bush, who was exercising at the time behind bulletproof glass, “was
never in any danger,” White House press secretary Ari Fleischer said.
Informed of the incident, Bush resumed his workout, Fleischer said. The first
lady was in Texas. Vice President Dick Cheney was in his office at the time
but then left the White House to attend a previously scheduled lunch.
As events unfolded, there were conflicting reports about what
happened, including whether the gunman actually fired any rounds. Park police
said the man could have been trying to commit suicide when he was found with
the gun.
WAVING GUN IN THE AIR
Officials said the episode began when police heard shots around 11:30
a.m. and approached a man with a handgun on the sidewalk outside the fence on
the south side of the White House.
“He was waving it in the air — it was pointed at the White House at
one point — and pointing it in all directions,” said Park Police spokesman
Rob MacLean. At one point, the suspect placed the gun in his mouth, MacLean
added.
Fleischer said officers on regular patrol “heard shots fired and
proceeded to surround the subject.”
“A 10-minute standoff ensued upon which time the Secret Service fired
a shot into the suspect’s leg,” Fleischer said. Asked why officers fired on
the suspect, Fleischer said they “felt it was necessary. ... He was armed
with a weapon that he had discharged.”
The confrontation occurred on a street frequented by tourists, within
sight of the fountain on the South Lawn of the White House.
Secret Service spokesman Marc Connolly said an officer fired one shot,
which struck the gunman in the right knee.
SECRET SERVICE SEARCH HOME
Pickett was not listed in Secret Service files as a known threat to
the president, law enforcement officials said. Evansville police said he did
not have a criminal record. But Secret Service agents searched his home for
firearms, threatening letters and evidence of involvement with militia
groups. Before entering Pickett’s home, officers from the Evansville police
bomb squad joined Secret Service agents in scouting outside for booby traps
or bombs.
The search warrant obtained by the Secret Service said agents were
looking for computer equipment which might contain letters to President Bush,
Rep. John Hostettler, R-Ind., or other government agencies or officials.
In the search warrant, Hostettler aides indicated that Pickett sent
letters to the congressman’s offices in Indiana and Washington in the past
year about grievances Pickett had with the Internal Revenue Service.
Pickett had been fired by the Internal Revenue Service in the mid
1980s. Neighbors said Pickett kept to himself and resented the IRS. In court
records, Pickett had acknowledged suffering from mental illness and trying to
commit suicide after his dismissal.
NEIGHBORS RECALL PICKETT
Neighbors in Evansville described Pickett as a friendly man, an
accountant who took over his father’s general accounting business. They said
Pickett never married and lived in his parent’s modest home after they both
died. Neighbors said he kept a neat lawn and frequently jogged.
“I was really surprised. As far as I knew, he was an outstanding
neighbor,” said Lewis Gates.
Beverly Buck, who said she was neighbor of Pickett’s for 23 years
before her family moved, told NBC News that she never knew Pickett to be
violent. She said the last time she saw him was last week at his accounting
office, where he was doing her family’s taxes.
Yet, she also described Pickett as estranged from his sister and
brother and said he “was always trying to find himself.”
At the hospital, Dr. Yolanda Haywood, associate professor of emergency
medicine, said Pickett was conscious and calm but had not said anything.
More on Pickett's life
EYEWITNESS REPORTS
The incident triggered a massive security alert at the White House,
with armed officers spreading out across the fenced grounds and a helicopter
hovering overhead.
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.”
Secret Service agents were using metal detectors in an effort to find
shell casings to determine how many shots were fired in the incident.
Rep. Bob Clement, D-Tenn., said he was attending a meeting with Bush
economic adviser Larry Lindsey on taxes in the West Wing of the White House
at the time of the incident and no one was allowed to leave the grounds after
the meeting.
“I was temporarily detained,” he told MSNBC.
At the Treasury Department, the entrance between the department and
the White House was immediately closed.
The security clampdown was lifted shortly after the suspect was taken
into custody.
The shooting adds a new dynamic to an already heated debate over
whether to reopen Pennsylvania Avenue, on the other side of the White House.
It was closed in 1995 after the Oklahoma City bombing raised fears of a
similar attack in Washington.
President Clinton followed the Secret Service’s warnings about
security threats in closing the famed street, but businessmen and city
officials have pressed to have the decision reversed. The Republican Party
platform last year called for the reopening.
Fleischer said Bush “has made no determination at this time as to what
he will do or what he won’t do.” He said Bush had discussed the issue with
the Secret Service and Mayor Anthony Williams.
White House aides told NBC News that in the wake of Wednesday’s
incident there are security measures that will have to be reviewed, including
the president’s use of a jogging track which was in clear view of the gunman.
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