A 51-year-old Maryland man who was shot near the White House by the Secret Service Monday evening has been charged with assaulting a law enforcement officer, according to the Metropolitan Police Department
Myron Berryman forced President Trump to briefly halt a news conference when the man charged toward a Secret Service agent right outside the White House while claiming to have a weapon, the Secret Service said in a statement.
Berryman remained hospitalized Tuesday with critical injuries after he was shot once in his torso when he “crouched into a shooter’s stance as if about to fire a weapon,” according to the federal agency.
“The suspect approached the officer and told the officer he had a weapon. The suspect then turned around, ran aggressively towards the officer, and in a drawing motion, withdrew an object from his clothing.”
But no weapon was recovered from the scene, officials said.
Law enforcement agents are now trying to assess if Berryman has a history of mental illness as they try to piece together a motive.
Berryman had been shouting before the shooting that he was going to kill people, two officials familiar with the matter told the Associated Press.
As the shooting unfolded, Secret Service agents pulled Trump from the podium in the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room, where reporters were briefly placed under lockdown as more agents surrounded the West Wing.
Trump soon returned to his briefing, acknowledging the shooting as “unfortunate” while praising his agents.
With Post wires.
