By Justin Sink
A man was taken into custody Wednesday after jumping the fence on the North Lawn of the White House — the first such incident since a veteran with a knife was able to scale the fence surrounding the executive mansion and run inside.
The Secret Service identified the intruder as Dominic Adesanya, 23, of Bel Air, Md. Charges are pending for Adesanya, who was unarmed at the time of his arrest.
Video of the incident shows a man wearing a dark shirt and white gym shorts on the lawn outside the White House being yelled at by Secret Service officers. He briefly lifted his shirt to show his chest before a pair of Secret Service dogs rushed to the man and pounced.
Officers cleared the North Lawn of journalists and began conducting a search of the premises. The White House lifted its lockdown about 90 minutes after the incident.
"At approximately 7:16 pm, an individual climbed the North fenceline of the White House," Secret Service spokesman Ed Donovan said in a statement. "The individual was immediately taken into custody on the North lawn of the White House by Secret Service Uniformed Division K-9 teams and Uniformed Division Officers. The subject is being transported to a local hospital for evaluation."
Two USSS K-9s were taken to a veterinarian for injuries sustained during the incident.
Security at the executive mansion has been escalated since suspect Omar Gonzalez, a 42-year-old Army veteran, was able to successfully scale the fence and run inside the White House. The Secret Service has installed a second, temporary fence on the sidewalk ringing the executive mansion, implemented new safety procedures, and begun locking the front door of the building.
The incident comes the same day as a series of shootings in Canada's capital city of Ottawa, including the exchange of gunfire inside the country's parliament building. One Canadian soldier was killed in the incident.
White House press secretary Josh Earnest said earlier Wednesday he was not aware of any additional security procedures being implemented because of the Canadian shooting. He also said he was not sure any other agencies were changing their terror threat levels.
"None that I'm aware of, but you can check with the Secret Service. They're responsible for maintaining the appropriate security levels here at the White House, and so if they have something to announce, they'll be the ones to do that," Earnest said.
—This post was updated at 9:45 p.m.
