White House shooting: Secret Service stops armed man

The White House was placed on security alert (AP)

The Secret Service has shot an armed man outside the White House, according to US officials.

Police told ABC News that a man brandished a weapon at a security checkpoint near the building and was shot in stomach.

The White House was briefly placed on lockdown after the shooting on Friday. President Barack Obama was golfing in Maryland at the time.

The man was transported to hospital with critical injuries, officials said.

Vice-President Joe Biden was in the White House at the time. He was taken to a "secure area" during the incident, White House officials said.

The White House has seen a number of security incidents in recent years, prompting changes at the executive complex.

An armed man was shot by a Secret Service officer (AP)

In April, Secret Service caught an intruder climbing over the White House fence.

In 2014, Iraq War veteran Omar Gonzalez jumped the White House fence and ran into the building with a knife. Also that year, a toddler squeezed through the gates of the fence and was caught on the lawn.

In 2013, one man tried to crash a jeep filled with knives and bullets into a security gate.

In 2011, Oscar Ortega-Hernandez shot at the White House and was charged with attempting to assassinate Mr Obama or a member of his staff.

Mr Ortega-Hernandez believed God had given him a personal mission to attack the White House, law enforcement sources said.