US President Donald Trump was in the White House at the time on a day when he was working to negotiate a deal with Iran.

Police cordoned off access to the White House and National Guard troops blocked an AFP reporter from entering the area in downtown Washington.

“FBI is on the scene and supporting Secret Service responding to shots fired near White House grounds,” FBI Director Kash Patel said on X.

Fox News host Bret Baier cited a senior administration official as saying that a gunman approached the west side of the White House and fired three times.

Secret Service agents returned fire and shot the gunman, while a bystander was struck in the exchange, he said on X. The gunman never breached the White House security perimeter.

Canadian tourist Reid Adrian told AFP he was in the area when “we heard probably 20 to 25 what sounded like fireworks, but they’re gunshots, and then everyone started running.”

Journalists who were on the White House North Lawn at the time said they were ordered to run and shelter in the press briefing room.

ABC News correspondent Selina Wang had been recording a video for social media when the gunfire broke out, capturing the sounds of the shots as she dove to the ground.

“It sounded like dozens of gunshots,” she said on X.

A Secret Service spokesman told AFP in a text message that the agency was still gathering information about the incident.

“Thank God President Trump is safe,” House Republicans said on X after the shooting.

“Endless gratitude to the Secret Service for their immediate, heroic response. Political violence has to stop.”