Intruder Is Shot at White House

Secret Service Officer Also Wounded in Confrontation on South Lawn

By Martin Weil
Washington Post Staff Writer

An armed man scaled the White House fence and was shot on the South Lawn last night in a confrontation that also wounded a uniformed Secret Senice officer, authorities said.

Both the intruder and the officer were taken to George Washington University Hospital, where they were listed in stable condition. The officer was shot in the left elbow, and the intruder was hit in the right arm, according to a hospital spokeswoman.

A Secret Service spokesman identified the intruder as Leland Modjeski, of Falls Church; the wounded officer was identified as Scott Giambattista, 35.

There was no immediate indication of a motive in the incident, the third serious breach of White House security in a year. Because of heightened security concerns, the Secret Service on Saturday closed down Pennsylvania Avenue outside the north fence.

Secret Service spokesman Terry Samway said Modjeski scaled the eight-foot black iron fence on the southeast side of the White House about 10:45 a.m. in an area facing the Treasury Department building and the Ellipse.

The intruder's presence triggered alanns, which sent Secret Service officers to the area, according to the spokesman.

As the officers approached the intruder and a struggle broke out, "shots were fired," Samway said. Modjeski, 38, was wounded, as was one of the uniformed officers.

It was unknown whether the Secret Service officer was wounded by the intruder or by a fellow officer. Early this morning, Samway said, investigators still were trying to determine the sequence of shots; it was not clear how many were fired or by whom. Passersby reported hearing a single gunshot.

"As far as I know, he had a gun," the spokesman said of the intruder. It was not known, however, whether the man fired.

President Clinton, his wife, Hillary Rodham Clinton, and their daughter, Chelsea, all were reported to be in the White House at the time. Shortly before, the president had returned from addressing Democratic congressional campaign committees. The family quarters are on the west side of the Executive Mansion; it was not clear whether they heard any of the shots. The president was told of the confrontation shortly afterward, according to the Associated Press.

Both the Secret Service officer and the intruder were taken to the hospital by fire department ambulance. Modjeski was undergoing surgery last night. and doctors were evaluating the officer's injuries.

A paramedic who arrived on the White House grounds about 10:55 p.m. said the intruder, stripped to his underwear and handcuffed inside a guard shack, had little to say as treatment began.

Paramedic Rhonda Coles said the man appeared calm as he asked to have the handcuffs removed. The restraints were left in place.

No one answered the telephone last night at Modjeski's home on Prince Albert Court in Falls Church. Police officers who knocked on the door early this morning left after getting no response.

Secret Service officers searched and roped off a blue Honda Civic with Virginia plates that was parked near the Ellpse; it could not be determined last night whether the car belonged to Modjeski.

Few witnesses to last night's shooting could be found immediately, but one man who was in Lafayette Square, across the street from the north side of the White House grounds, said he heard the gunfire.

"I was sitting on the bench reading the newspapers, and I heard this loud bang. I lrnew it wasn't a car" backfiring, the man said. He said that as he crossed Pennsyivania Avenue and headed to the Southeast gate, he saw the area filling up with law enforcement and rescue personnel.

At the 11th-floor terrace bar of the Hotel Washington, which over-looks the Treasury building and the White House, manager Tom Falah said: "I had two tables of customers who heard shots around 10:45. They said they heard one shot only" from the White House grounds.

Guests and staff watched as ambulances and police cars converged on the area and the beams of flash-lights crisscrossed the lawn.

The incident came only three days after Secret Service officials closed a section of Pennsylvania Avenue on the north side of the White House in response to concerns about possible terrorist attacks.

The closing of Pennsylvania Avenue, which came after the bombing of the federal building in Oklahoma City in April, has created some traffic problems for motorists forced to make detours to get to and from work.

By banning cars, it also created a pedestrian mall in the lanes of Pennsylvania Avenue outside the White House, delighting many tourists and area residents alike.

"Let the pedestrians have the street," said Elbow Jones, a retired telephone company employee from Modesto, Calif., who was sightseeing earlier in the day. "This is great."

Last night's incident, however, provided a reminder of some of the more troublesome reasons cited for closing the avenue.

"It's pretty sad what's happening, Joe Pattison, a tourist from New Jersey, said as he watched the officers crowding onto the South Lawn last night. "I'm just glad that they closed off Pennsylvania Avenue" for security.

Several particularly dramatic breaches of White House security began in September when a man crashed a light airplane on the south grounds.

In addition, on Oct. 29, Francisco Martin Duran fired at least 29 shots at the White House with a semiautomatic rifle from the south sidewalk of Pennsylvania Avenue.

Even before these incidents, however, White House security had been breached many times over the years. In many of them, people scaled the fence or tried to crash automobiles through the gates.

On Jan. 20, 1985, the day Ronald Reagan was sworn in for a second term as president, a man walked in with the Marine Band. He wandered around in the mansion for 15 minutes before being discovered and arrested.

In a more violent incident, a man under surveillance for threats against Reagan pulled a sawed-off shotgun as security officers approached him outside the fence along the south grounds. He was shot in the arm and arrested.

On July 27, 1976, Chester Plummer, a taxi driver, climbed the fence carrying a three-foot metal pipe. When ordered to halt, he raised the pipe "in a threatening manner" and was fatally shot by a security officer.

On Feb. 17, 1974, Army Pvt. Robert Preston took a helicopter from Fort Meade and flew to the White House. The helicopter was shot down on the south grounds. Preston was arrested and sentenced to a year at hard labor.

In response to these and other incidents, the White House gates have been strengthened, and electronic detection devices have been installed at the edge of the grounds to detect intntders. In addition, Secret Service officers are stationed on the White House roof to watch for intrusions by aircraft.

Staff writers Marcia Davis, Hamil R. Harrls, Vernon Loeb, Steve Vogel and Linda Wheeler contributed to this report.

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