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Police probe background of White House shooting suspect


A federal agent carries computer parts from the home of Robert W. Pickett in Evansville, Indiana, on Wednesday

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Police on Thursday were probing the background of a man suspected of firing shots outside the White House.

Nothing indicating a threat against the president was turned up in an initial review of items seized from the home of Robert Pickett, law enforcement sources told CNN.

There was in the material seized, however, what one source described as "repeated" references to Pickett's anger at his firing by the Internal Revenue Service 13 years ago.

A uniformed Secret Service officer shot the 47-year-old Indiana man Wednesday morning after he refused to surrender a gun he was waving outside the southwest perimeter of the White House grounds, law enforcement officials said.

The Secret Service said it was notified of the suspect's activities by citizens outside the White House grounds who saw the man waving a gun.

VIDEO

Eyewitnesses describe what they saw and heard near the White House

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Eyewitnesses discuss hearing gunshot noises and watching the suspect being apprehended Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media)

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CNN Legal Analyst Greta Van Susteren discusses possible charges against Pickett Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media)

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Steve Yurks, a friend of the suspect, comments on the motive behind Pickett's alleged actions

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Martin Malley talks to CNN about what he witnessed Tuesday outside the White House

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RESOURCES

Location of White House shooting

ALSO

Pickett, a certified public accountant from Evansville, Indiana, was wounded in the right knee by a single gunshot. He was listed in serious condition Wednesday night at George Washington University Hospital after undergoing a two-hour operation to remove the bullet and bone fragments from his right knee.

The Emergency Response Team member who fired the shot at Pickett, according to two sources, was inside the White House complex and took aim through the iron fence that surrounds the building. Pickett was on a sidewalk just outside the perimeter of the executive mansion.

Sources say Pickett had fired several rounds from a five-shot, .38-caliber revolver that was recovered at the scene. Officers approached Pickett at 11:22 a.m. and tried to talk him into surrendering his weapon. He was shot and taken into custody at 11:36 a.m.

The sources said investigators were trying to determine in what direction the shots from Pickett's gun were fired; metal detectors were used to search the White House grounds to determine if any rounds were fired into the complex.

The sources said the investigation was continuing and said they were not aware of any rounds recovered inside the perimeter. Park Service police officials said Pickett waved the gun in the direction of the White House before he was apprehended.

Secret Service agents said they believe Pickett was the only person involved in the incident.

Speaking to reporters at mid-afternoon, White House press secretary Ari Fleischer said President Bush was in no danger. The incident took place shortly after Bush held a tax-cut event on the south lawn of the White House.

The president, who was exercising in the residential portion of the White House, was never in any danger, Fleischer said. Vice President Dick Cheney, at work in his White House office, also was not in any danger, Fleischer said.

"The president said he understood he was never in any danger," Fleischer said. "He kept up what he was in the middle of."

The grounds of the White House were placed under a strict lockdown late Wednesday morning when the suspicious figure was seen near the gate. The incident will prompt an automatic review of White House safety measures, Fleischer said.

"Nobody ever wants to have to go through anything like this," he said. "Not for the Secret Service, not for the people who work here, and of course the suspect. We are all grateful for the people who protect our president."

At no time was Pickett considered a direct threat to the president or the vice president, both of whom were inside the White House when the incident occurred.

The Secret Service said that when the suspect was told to surrender his gun, the man spoke of his desire to commit suicide. Sources said at no time did Pickett try to climb the fence or otherwise enter the White House grounds.

Secret Service officials said it is routine to reassess White House security measures after such incidents, but said preliminary indications were that the officers inside and outside the compound had reacted quickly and appropriately.

Witnesses: Police quickly subdued suspect

Several witnesses close to the scene told CNN of a rapid-fire series of events outside the White House's imposing wrought iron fence.

"He was just standing in the streets and just randomly fired a few shots," said one witness, Martin Manley.


Officers searched for shell casings outside the White House fence to determine how many shots were fired

"There were no police officers in that area when I heard the shots being fired," Manley told CNN. Manley said he dropped to the ground to take cover.

"I was in the parking lot, probably 75-80 feet away," Manley said. He said many people did not realize that shots were being fired, but that those who did took cover behind bushes and cars.

"I could hear them talking to [the suspect]," Manley said. "They told him to 'drop the gun, it doesn't have to be this way. We can talk to you.' There was one more shot, then they immediately converged on him," Manley said.

Another witness said, "We heard the police ask the man to give up, please give up."

Geraldine Halliburton, another witness close to the incident, said she heard two shots before a black sport utility vehicle pulled up and police officers inside told her to evacuate the area.

Suspect's condition 'stable'

The suspect was taken to the emergency room at George Washington University Medical Center. Yolanda Heywood, associate professor of emergency medicine at the hospital, told reporters Wednesday afternoon the patient "was calm and did not speak at all" when he was taken into the emergency room.


The wounded suspect arrives at George Washington University Medical Center

Agents sealed off the White House as soon as the suspect's presence became known, and officers with assault rifles were seen running across the grounds with guns drawn. Others combed the roof of the White House as a helicopter hovered overhead. The entrance between the Treasury Department and the White House was immediately closed, and White House tour groups were quickly ushered out of the building.

Rep. Bob Clement, D-Tennessee, told CNN later on Wednesday afternoon that he had been attending a meeting on tax policy with Bush economic adviser Larry Lindsey when the incident occurred. The White House was immediately locked down, he said, and everyone stayed calm.

"We stayed for a while until the person was detained," Clement said. "We were just told not to leave the premises until this matter was over. That's what we did, just followed orders and instructions. There was no tension, no anxiety."

Neighbor says Pickett troubled

A former neighbor of Pickett's, Beverly Buck of Evansville, called him "very kind and a very good person as far as I'm concerned." She said Pickett lived alone and worked as an accountant.

He had, she said, "emotional problems" related to his family, but she did not elaborate.

"I think he was always trying to find himself, and he was such a kind person that I think it was difficult for him," she said.

"I am really shocked to even hear this.... I was hoping it was not our Bob," Buck said. "I was certainly shocked that he was even in Washington."


Guards surround White House grounds in a "security lockdown" amid reports of shots fired

Security has been tightened in and around the White House in recent years. The most significant change was the closing of the section of Pennsylvania Avenue in front of the Executive Mansion. Wednesday's incident was on the opposite side of the White House, the south side facing the Ellipse and the Washington Monument.

In May 1995, the Secret Service shot a man who scaled a White House fence, carrying an unloaded gun. An official said at the time the man had asked to see President Clinton.

Nine months earlier, a pilot died when he crashed a small plane on the south lawn of the White House. About a month later, a man pulled a rifle from under his trench coat and sprayed the front of the White House with bullets.

More than a mile east of the White House, in the summer of 1998, a gunman went on a shooting spree in the U.S. Capitol, killing two policemen.

Russell Eugene Weston, 43, still has not stood trial for the slayings because doctors have said he is mentally ill and unable to do so. He remains incarcerated.

In March 1981, a gunman shot President Reagan, his press secretary James Brady and a Washington policeman outside a Washington hotel as the president was getting into his motorcade.

CNN's John King, Eileen O'Connor, Kelly Wallace, Ian Christopher McCaleb and The Associated Press contributed to this report.