It is an alarming matter for all Americans that two gunshots were fired at the White House on Tuesday.
Fortunately, no one was hurt, though a bullet cracked a window on the level of the White House where President Barack Obama’s quarters are. He and Mrs. Obama were away at the time, on a trip to California and Hawaii, without their daughters. But it wasn’t immediately clear whether their daughters or anyone else was near the spots where the shots hit.
Any such act under any circumstances is disturbing — and is an attack not only on the president but on us all.
Our nation has endured the agony and turmoil caused by multiple presidential assassinations and assassination attempts, and we surely do not want another one.
In the current case, a 21-year-old man, Oscar Ramiro Ortega-Hernandez, was arrested by Pennsylvania authorities at a hotel about 55 miles from Pittsburgh, the Secret Service said. The arrest came as the result of a tip from someone who spotted Ortega. The suspect was said to have mental problems.