On Wednesday, United States Secret Service officers shot and killed a man who smashed the windows of the Peruvian ambassador’s home in Washington, D.C. in what police described as a possible attempted burglary.
Metropolitan Police Chief Robert Contee told reporters that law enforcement received a call just before 8 a.m. about a burglary in progress.
“Upon arrival of the officers on the scene, they located an individual who was in the rear of the ambassador’s residence … for the Peruvian embassy. Once the officers encountered this individual in the back, they learned that this individual had smashed out several windows to the backside of this residence.”
Contee described the individual as a male adult in his late 20s or 30s, and said police pulled their tasers on the suspect, who was armed with a “metal stake.”
“The officers fired those tasers. They did not take effect, and as these weapons did not take effect, ultimately the officers ended up pulling their service weapons, firing shots, and this person is now deceased,” Contee continued.
Both the ambassador and his wife were in their home at the time of the officer-involved shooting, but neither was injured.
The officers who responded were taken to a local hospital for assessment, but it is unclear if they were wounded in the confrontation. The Metropolitan Police Department and the U.S. Secret Service are investigating the incident.
Late Wednesday morning, the Embassy of Peru released a statement on Twitter.
“The Embassy of Peru regrets to report that today, in the early hours of the morning, a person entered the Official Residence without authorization, causing material damage to the property. This person was killed by the Secret Service,” the embassy wrote, according to a translation of the tweet.
“The Ambassador, his family, the Residential staff, and the secret service agents are safe, and the fact is being investigated by the competent authorities,” they wrote in a separate post.
Contee said “these types of incidents” typically don’t occur in the neighborhood.
“This is totally out of the ordinary,” he said.
Earlier this month, the FBI arrested two men and charged them with attempting to impersonate Department of Homeland Security (DHS) agents in order to get close to First Lady Jill Biden’s Secret Service detail.
Four Secret Service agents have been placed on administrative leave after their interactions with the two suspects. According to the criminal complaint, the agents will remain on leave pending further investigation.
