An intruder was fatally shot Wednesday at the home of the Peruvian ambassador, according to police.
As The Washington Post reported, the episode took place before 8 a.m. in Northwest Washington, D.C.
After the incident, the D.C. Police Chief Robert J. Contee III said the members of the Secret Service uniformed division responded to a call about a burglary in progress. When they got to the scene, he said, they discovered a man in the back of the residence, learning that the person had “smashed out several windows to the back side of [the] residence.”
The man was holding a metal stake, and the officers used tasers first, but the “weapons did not take effect,” Contee added. Contee noted that the officers then shot the alleged intruder and he is deceased. He was pronounced dead at the scene. An investigation is ongoing.
4.20.22 Chief Contee gives an update on a USSS officer involved shooting in the 3000 block of Garrison Street, NW https://t.co/xu8ukbTMQy
— DC Police Department (@DCPoliceDept) April 20, 2022
He also reportedly said that the officers were still carrying out a search of the property, per The Hill. The intruder apparently seemed to be in his late 20s to 30s.
“We don’t know why this person smashed out several windows, we don’t know why this person had a metal stake, we don’t know why this person approached the officers with that metal stake, but we’re investigating that now,” Contee told the press.
The officers were transported to a hospital to be examined, and while Contee said their injuries were not life-threatening, he was unaware to what level they had been harmed.
Contee added that the Peruvian Ambassador and his wife were at home during the incident, but they were unharmed. The Peruvian Ambassador to the United States is Oswaldo de Rivero, per the embassy’s website.
The chief noted that this occurrence was “totally out of the ordinary.” Law enforcement did not release a motive.
“I can’t recall the last time we had this type of incident on the property or residence of one of our ambassadors,” he added.
The Peruvian Embassy said in a release, “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 Ambassador, his family, the staff of the Residence and the secret service agents are safe, and the incident is being investigated by the competent authorities,” it added.
Peru bought the home to be the embassy’s residence in 1944, according to Diplomatic Connections, The New York Times reported. Fox5DC has described the residence as “a massive home that sits on DC’s largest private property, 25 acres of woods and land which includes a Civil War Battery right out front that once helped defend DC from Confederate troops.”