A gunman shot the WH 7 times and the Secret Service didn’t know about it
http://twitter.com/#!/AHMalcolm/status/514997735934918656
Oh, boy. This is bad:
Post EXCLUSIVE: The story of the night bullets hit the White House and the Secret Service didn't know it. http://t.co/zg6hhrxRoB
— Carol Leonnig (@CarolLeonnig) September 27, 2014
Some excerpts:
It took the Secret Service five days to realize that shots had hit the White House residence, a discovery that came about only because a housekeeper noticed broken glass and a chunk of cement on the floor.
***
Nobody conducted more than a cursory inspection of the White House for evidence or damage. Key witnesses were not interviewed until after bullets were found.
Moreover, the suspect was able to park his car on a public street, take several shots and then speed off without being detected. It was sheer luck that the shooter was identified, the result of Ortega, a troubled and jobless 21-year-old, wrecking his car seven blocks away and leaving his gun inside.
***
A woman in a taxi stopped at a nearby stoplight immediately took to Twitter to describe the actions of “this crazy guy.”
“Driver in front of my cab, STOPPED and fired 5 gun shots at the White House,” she wrote, adding, “It took the police a while to respond.”
And this looks like the tweet quoted from the Post:
"@ShankarSharanya: 'Driver in front of my cab, STOPPED & fired 5 gun shots at the White House on Constitution and 17, at 8:55 PM.'"
— JoJeanne B. Lown (@JLownLaw) November 12, 2011
Too bad Twitchy wasn’t around then or we would have caught it. 🙂
This has left a lot of tweeters just shaking their heads at how this could happen:
I just reread the WaPo USSS story again, and I'm even more aghast. Rinky-dink towns have ShotFinder. Not y'all?
— Rick Wilson (@TheRickWilson) September 28, 2014
Stumbled hell, this is shameful. http://t.co/7CQnUQheXE
— Tom Lemke (@torti151) September 28, 2014
@BruceNV So yeah, Secret Service better get their act together fast. ISIS, AQ, there are groups out there that can launch sucide missions
— Brian Cates (@drawandstrike) September 28, 2014
Holy hell – the night a gunman attacked the White House and nobody did anything, via @CarolLeonnig : http://t.co/mULCIFNZmG
— Morgan Romine (@mhromine) September 28, 2014
I can honestly say I don't remember anything about this WH attack story in 2011. Bizarre. http://t.co/349SCK47GF
— Brian Stewart (@BrianStewartOH) September 28, 2014
STUMBLING SEEMS TO BE ALL THEY DO LATELY: WaPo: Secret Service stumbled after gunman hit Wh… http://t.co/PP5OJkCAZR via @instapundit
— Instapundit.com (@instapundit) September 28, 2014
Sad, frustrating and Shocking Washington Post article about Secret Service and security lapses at White House http://t.co/CeXpp01KNz
— Zack Cooper (@zackcooperYale) September 28, 2014
Scary. Completely unacceptable. RT @freddoso: Whoa. http://t.co/rOjFLwa3M6
— Shannon (@Shan1419) September 28, 2014
Yeah, maybe the Secret Service needs a little bit more than that second fence.
Related:
‘Quite sad’ warning on new layer of WH fence missing something; Jim Geraghty zings
White House fence-jumper had 800 rounds of ammo, machete, hatchets in car