US Secret Service officers fatally shot an intruder at the Peruvian ambassador’s residence after a confrontation on Wednesday morning following a reported burglary attempt, authorities said.
The ambassador, Oswaldo de Rivero, and his family were at home at the time but neither they nor their staff were injured, said Rodolfo Pereira, the Peruvian Embassy’s press counselor.
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Uniformed Secret Service officers responded to a report of a burglary in progress shortly before 8 a.m. EDT (1200 GMT), Washington Police Chief Robert Contee said. They found a man, in his 20s or 30s, carrying a metal stake at the rear of the house, where several windows had been smashed.
Officers initially tried to stop the man with Tasers but when he approached the officers with the metal stake, they began firing shots, Contee said. Two officers fired their weapons, he said.
The Peruvian Embassy confirmed there was damage done to the property but offered no details beyond the police account.
The man was not identified and it was unclear whether he knew the home belonged to a foreign diplomat.
Police are investigating who the intruder was and why the ambassador’s home was targeted, Contee said. There was no indication he was known to law enforcement.
Violence at embassies is rare in Washington.
“We don’t see these types of incidents around here,” Contee said. “This is totally out of the ordinary.”
Officers with the Secret Service’s Uniformed Division protect more than 500 foreign diplomatic missions in the US capital.
