Secret Service agents open fire on attempted carjackers

Secret Service agents protecting President Joe Biden’s granddaughter opened fire after three people tried to break into an unmarked Secret Service vehicle in Washington DC, a law enforcement official said.

The official told the Associated Press the agents, assigned to protect Naomi Biden, were out with her in the Georgetown neighbourhood late on Sunday night when they saw the three people breaking a window of the parked and unoccupied SUV.

The official could not discuss details of the investigation publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity.

One of the agents opened fire, but no one was struck by the gunfire, the Secret Service said in a statement.

The three people were seen fleeing in a red car, and the Secret Service said it put out a regional bulletin to Metropolitan Police to be on the lookout for it.

The Metropolitan Police Department said on Monday it was investigating the shooting, as it does with all police shootings in Washington.

The agency said the “facts and evidence in the case will be independently reviewed by the United States Attorney’s Office”.

Washington has seen a significant rise in the number of carjackings and car thefts this year. Police have reported more than 750 carjackings this year and more than 6,000 reports of stolen vehicles in the district.

Violent crime in Washington has also been on the rise this year, up more than 40% compared with last year.