Car crash near White House sparks lockdown and Secret Service response

| Senior science and technology reporter Published November 9, 2026 4:36pm Updated November 9, 2026 5:25pm A man was arrested (Picture: AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin) A car has crashed near the White House in Washington, DC. The silver sedan smashed into a sign on the north end of Lafayette Square Park, facing the North Lawn of the presidential residence at 10am. Footage posted to X by reporter Martin Austermuhle showed smoke rising from the car at 16th Street and H Street, NW. A man stepped out of the driver’s seat and scuffled with officers. ‘Get on the ground!’ someone shouted before the man was arrested. Further video posted by Al Jazeera English’s Chris Sheridan shows the suspect being escorted as he shouted: ‘Oh my God!’ UPDATE: Secret Service has an individual in custody. He was yelling “Oh my God” as they walked him away from Lafayette Park near the white house. pic.twitter.com/a7oCySMMa7— Chris Sheridan (@ChrisSheridan34) November 9, 2026 Police have sent a bomb disposal team to ‘sweep the vehicle as a precaution’, the Secret Service told Metro. ‘Around the same time, a second individual jumped a barricade near the northwest corner of Lafayette Park. That individual was also quickly placed under arrest,’ the law enforcement agency added. This happened between Pennsylvania Avenue and 17th Street, a source told NBC4 Washington. Officers were spotted ‘removing items’ from the car, Emma Ruby, a reporter with the local Washington Sun, said on social media. It was not immediately clear what caused the incident, who the driver was or if it was connected to the attempted barricade jump. The bomb squad is inspecting the car (Picture: AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin) CBS White House reporter Jennifer Jacobs said the White House was on lockdown. Secret Service agents ordered journalists to stay in the briefing room in the West Wing. US President Donald Trump is at the White House today preparing for meetings Got a story? Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk. Or you can submit your videos and pictures here. For more stories like this, check our news page. Follow Metro.co.uk on Twitter and Facebook for the latest news updates. You can now also get Metro.co.uk articles sent straight to your device. Sign up for our daily push alerts here. News Updates Stay on top of the headlines with daily email updates.