WASHINGTON — A man was arrested Wednesday in connection with an investigation into a shooting near the White House, the U.S. Secret Service said.
The Secret Service discovered Tuesday that two bullets had hit the White House, one of them apparently cracking a window on the residential level while President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle were away on a trip to California and Hawaii.
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The discovery of the bullet holes followed reports of gunfire near the White House on Friday night, although the bullets have not been conclusively connected with that shooting. An assault rifle and an abandoned vehicle were found, which led authorities to link Oscar Ramiro Ortega-Hernandez to the reported gunfire.
Ortega, 21, was arrested Wednesday afternoon by Pennsylvania authorities at a hotel near Indiana, Pa., the Secret Service said. He was in Pennsylvania State Police custody. A tip from someone who saw and identified Ortega led to his arrest, Secret Service spokesman George Ogilvie said. He said the Secret Service would not disclose the exact location where Ortega was arrested.
Ortega is from Idaho Falls, Idaho, and was reported missing Oct. 31 by his family. On Friday morning, he was stopped by police in Arlington, Va., who were called for a report of a suspicious person. Police took photos of him but did not have any reason to arrest him, according to Arlington police Lt. Joe Kantor.
Ortega has an arrest record in three states but has not been linked to any radical organizations, U.S. Park Police have said.
Witnesses on Friday reported hearing shots and seeing two speeding vehicles in the area. The assault rifle was recovered nearby and the abandoned car that authorities linked to Ortega was found near the Theodore Roosevelt Bridge, which crosses the Potomac River to Virginia.
The bullet that hit the White House window was stopped by ballistic glass. The Secret Service did not disclose the location of the second bullet, saying only that it “was found on the exterior of the White House.”
Obama and the first lady had traveled without daughters Malia and Sasha on Friday to San Diego en route to Hawaii for a summit. The White House had no immediate comment on the shooting report or arrest nor who may have been in the building at the time.
On Wednesday, officials could be seen taking photographs of a window on the south face of the executive mansion. The window they were inspecting is in front of the so-called Yellow Oval Room, according to the White House website. The room is in the middle of the family’s living quarters on the floor that includes the president’s bedroom and the Lincoln Bedroom.
In 2010, there were a series of pre-dawn shootings at military buildings in the Washington area, including the Pentagon and the National Museum of the Marine Corps. Police charged a Marine Corps reservist with those shootings earlier this year. The suspect, Yonathan Melaku of Alexandria, Va., remains in custody.
In the last shooting at the White House, a Colorado man sprayed the mansion with at least 27 semiautomatic rifle bullets from Pennsylvania Avenue in an attempt to assassinate President Bill Clinton in October 1994. Bystanders subdued him, and no one was injured. Francisco Martin Duran was later convicted and sentenced to 40 years in prison for that shooting.
The next year, Pennsylvania Avenue was closed to traffic to bolster security.
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