WASHINGTON: Secret Service agents protecting President Joe Biden’s granddaughter opened fire after three people tried to break into an unmarked Secret Service vehicle.
The incident took place in the nation’s capital, a law enforcement official told The Associated Press.
The agents, assigned to protect Naomi Biden, were out with her in the Georgetown neighborhood late Sunday (Nov 12) night when they saw the three people breaking a window of the parked and unoccupied SUV, the official said.
One of the agents opened fire, but no one was struck by the gunfire, the Secret Service said in a statement.
The three people were seen fleeing in a red car, and the Secret Service said it put out a regional bulletin to Metropolitan Police to be on the lookout for it.
“It is believed no one was struck,” the Secret Service said in the statement, which did not confirm whether the agent who discharged the weapon was part of a detail to protect Naomi Biden.Â
“There was no threat to any protectees,” the Secret Service said.
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RISE IN CARJACKINGS
Washington has seen a significant rise in the number of carjackings and car thefts this year.
Police have reported more than 750 carjackings this year and more than 6,000 reports of stolen vehicles in the district.
US lawmakers Henry Cuellar of Texas was carjacked near the Capitol last month by three armed assailants, who stole his car but didn’t physically harm him.
Violent crime in Washington has also been on the rise this year, up more than 40 per cent compared with last year. In February, US Rep Angie Craig of Minnesota was assaulted in her apartment building, suffering bruises while escaping serious injury.