A Secret Service agent was hospitalized after shooting himself while on duty.
Local news station WUSA 9 reported that a Secret Service agent was on duty on Saturday evening when he “negligently discharged” his weapon, injuring himself. The incident is reported to have taken place near 32nd and Fessenden Streets in Washington, DC.
The agent was taken to a local hospital and is expected to survive.
Nobody else was injured.
The Secret Service is withholding comment as it plans to investigate the incident.
The Secret Service has come under intense scrutiny in the wake of the two failed assassination attempts on Donald Trump. Last weekend, a second gunman attempted to kill the former president at his West Palm Beach golf course. Ryan Routh, the gunman, was arrested after fleeing the scene.
On Friday, acting director Ronald Rowe promised that the investigation into the agency’s failures at Butler, Pennsylvania is now entering its “accountability phase.” He did not provide specifics about who would be punished or what sanctions they would receive.
“Line of sight issues were acknowledged but not properly mitigated,” Rowe said.
He noted that there were a number of communication failures between Secret Service agents at the rally and local law enforcement, and that these allowed Thomas Matthew Crooks, the shooter, to take position on a nearby roof and open fire before being killed.
Rowe said that in the future the Secret Service would not abdicate responsibility for building site plans to other agencies or law enforcement.
Trump is now receiving increased protection, Rowe said, adding, “We have finite resources and we are stretching those resources to their maximum right now.”
Also on Friday, the House unanimously passed a bill to increase Secret Service protection for presidential candidates. The bill will now go before the Senate.
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