The head of the Metropolitan Police in Washington, Robert Contee, gave details of the shooting that occurred this Wednesday morning inside the Peruvian embassy where a man was killed by officers of the United States Secret Service.
“This morning, shortly before 8 a.m. members of the United States Secret Service (USSS) were warned that there was a robbery in progress in the 3000 block of Garrison Street. When the police arrived on the scene, they located an individual in the Peruvian Embassy. In addition, there were several broken windows in the back of the residence. They tried to arrest this person, who had a metal rod, using non-lethal weapons and tasers, but there was no effect, so the police used other weapons, shot him and now this person is dead,” Contee said.
At a press conference with the journalists, he said that “there were relatives who were inside the residence. Those family members heard several windows being broken, they sent us a notification, and the officers responded to that call.”
“We are still in the early stages of research. We don't know who this individual is. We don't know why this person was on the ambassador's residential property. We also don't know why this person broke several windows and why this person had a metal rod. We don't know why he approached the officers with that metal rod. We are investigating that now,” he stressed.
Asked about whether any member of the ambassador's family knew the suspect, Contee said that no one knew and they don't know who he was. And that “there is no indication that he has a criminal record in the past. We only know that he is a grown man, he seems to be in his last 20 or 30 years.”
“The officers were taken to an area hospital for evaluation, but they seem to have no life-threatening injuries,” said the police chief.
Contee also detailed that they are investigating how the intruder entered the property that is the headquarters of the Peruvian embassy in one of the safest areas of Washington. “This is a very large property and there were several broken windows: the entrance, the door were broken throughout the property.”
On how the confrontation with members of the Secret Service took place, he said that “the situation” occurred in the backyard of the place.
“We don't see these kinds of incidents around here. This is totally out of the ordinary. I can't remember the last time we had this kind of incident at the residence of one of the ambassadors,” he said.
He also stressed that “members of the force investigation team of the Metropolitan Police Department are in charge of the investigation. Since an officer was in the shooting, I will work with our apartment, the United States Secret Service, to investigate this.”
AMBASSADOR AND HIS FAMILY WERE NOT HARMED
Through a statement on social media, the Peruvian Embassy in the United States reported that Ambassador Oswaldo de Rivero and his family are well after the attack they suffered this morning at the residence.
“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 shot by the Secret Service,” says part of the statement.
“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,” they said.
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