A Secret Service agent guarding one of President Biden’s grandchildren fired at three people seen breaking into an unoccupied government vehicle in Washington late Sunday but did not appear to hit them, according to a senior law enforcement official.
The three individuals remain at large and there is no indication that they knew the vehicle was part of the protective detail for Mr. Biden’s granddaughter Naomi Biden when they smashed a window around 11:30 p.m. in the exclusive Georgetown part of town.
“Secret Service agents may have encountered three individuals smashing a window on a parked and unmanned government vehicle,” a Secret Service spokesman said in a statement. “During this encounter, a federal agent fired a service weapon and it is believed that no one was hit.”
There was no threat to the “protectors,” according to the statement, which did not specify who they might be. A senior law enforcement official later confirmed that the protégé was Ms. Biden.
The three fled in a red vehicle and a bulletin was immediately issued to local and federal law enforcement agencies. The incident is being investigated by the District of Columbia’s Metropolitan Police Department and the Secret Service.
The police press office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The White House referred calls to the Secret Service.
While the post-pandemic increase in crime has slowed in many cities, the number of car break-ins and thefts in Washington has been on the rise. Representative Henry Cuellar, Democrat of Texas, was carjacked near the Capitol in October by three gunmen who sped away in his car but left him otherwise unharmed.
Mrs. Biden, 29, is the daughter of the president’s son Hunter Biden. A year ago, she became the first presidential grandchild to be married in the White House when she married Peter Neal in a ceremony on the South Lawn.