Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, December 18, 1994 TAG: 9412190089
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
President Clinton slept through the latest incident, which occurred just after 2 a.m., when shots were fired from the direction of the grassy Ellipse behind the White House.
Investigators found four 9mm bullets they said apparently were shot from the same gun, but did not catch the person who fired them. The Washington Post, quoting unidentified sources, said one bullet penetrated a window of the State Dining Room on the first floor.
Officials said it was not clear whether the White House was a target, or just happened to be in the line of fire in a city where ``raining'' bullets afflict many neighborhoods - although usually not this one.
It ``looks like it could be a drive-by'' shooting but ``I wouldn't preclude anything at this point,'' Secret Service spokesman Carl Meyer said.
A public street loops around the White House grounds less than 100 yards from where the bullets were found.
One bullet landed on the first-floor balcony of the South Portico and a second dropped on the rear driveway, said Dave Adams, another Secret Service spokesman. All four were found on the grounds.
The Clintons were upstairs asleep at the time.
``They were never in any danger,'' said another service spokesman, Eric Harnischfeger. No one was injured and no one was taken into custody.
The incident nonetheless offered a chilling reminder of the violence in American society and revived questions about protection of the president.
Less than two months ago, a gunman sprayed the front of the White House with semiautomatic weapon fire while Clinton was upstairs watching TV. A 26-year-old Colorado man, Francisco Martin Duran, has been charged with attempted assassination in that incident and is awaiting trial.
Secret Service agents said it was too soon to tell whether the White House was the intended target this time.
Witnesses had reported hearing four to six shots. Meyer said tests indicated the bullets found came from the same gun.
``The crime-scene search has probably been completed,'' Meyer said.
Meyer recalled an incident in which a stray bullet happened to come down harmlessly in the midst of a motorcade carrying President Bush across town.
White House Chief of Staff Leon Panetta told reporters: ``We don't know if it was someone firing haphazardly from the Ellipse, whether it was someone who was driving by and firing.''
He said the Clintons slept through the shooting and were informed of the incident by agents checking to ensure that they were safe.
With the nation's third-highest murder rate in 1993, Washington has come to symbolize the ills of urban society. Reports of gunfire are common, albeit usually not at the White House.
``We are living at a time when these incidents of violence take place not just in cities and communities around this country, they take place here in Washington in front of the White House,'' Panetta said on CNN's ``Evans and Novak.''
After Saturday's shooting, the White House once again was transformed into a crime scene. Yellow police tape was strung around the rear grounds and the adjacent Ellipse park area, blocking access to the annual ``Pageant of Peace'' display, featuring the National Christmas Tree. Agents began a search at first light, combing the grounds inch by inch searching for bullets or other evidence.
Clinton seemed unfazed by the latest incident. He went ahead with plans to deliver his weekly radio address from a community college in the Virginia suburbs, his motorcade departing from the front drive rather than the rear as is customary.
The president declined to answer reporters' questions about whether he heard the gunshots and whether he felt safe. After the Duran shooting in October, he said he wouldn't hide from danger because ``I can't stop being president.''
Saturday's shooting was the third major White House security threat in recent months. In September, a small plane crashed on the south grounds of the White House and its pilot was killed.
A review of White House security procedures was ordered after the plane crash and expanded after the Duran shooting. A report is due out in January. Meyer said the investigation of the latest incident has been incorporated into that review.
by CNB