Washington D.C. Shootout: Two guardsmen shot at close to the White House, suspect in custody

Two National Guardsmen were shot just a few blocks away from the White House in Washington D.C. on Wednesday afternoon local time, according to law enforcement agencies. The guardsmen are in critical condition, while the suspect, who carried out the attack was also shot at and taken into custody.

As per Washington's Metropolitan Police, the soldiers shot at were on "high visibility" patrol, when the suspect raised a firearm and ambushed them from a corner. The suspect was immediately shot at, wrestled to the ground, and detained by other members of the National Guard.

Neither US President Donald Trump, nor Vice President JD Vance were in the White House at the time of the shootout.

Trump, who is in Florida, said that the suspect would "pay a very steep price" and ordered the deployment of another 500 troops in the capital city.

Officials maintain that the investigations are in the early stages and that the motives of the suspect remain unclear. What also remains unclear is whether the suspect was riding the Metro, as the incident took place near the Farragut West Metro Station at around 2:15 PM local time.

The shootout has reignited the debate over Trump's decision to deploy 2,000 members of the National Guard on the streets of Washington in August, stating that they were needed to support Federal and local law enforcement, a move that did not go down well with locals and was ruled illegal by a Federal judge, although the National Guard was not asked to immediately leave the city.

Emergency vehicles crowded the streets around the site of the shooting, and nearby government buildings including the White House and Treasury Department were initially put on lockdown.

The police is yet to release names of the National Guard members and the suspect. There were earlier reports that the two National Guard members shot at had died, as per West Virginia Governor Patrick Morrisey, who later retracted his statement citing conflicting reports.