Tuesday, August 11, 2020

Myron Basil Berryman – identified as White House shooter who injured Secret Service agent

Man shot near White House on Monday shouted threats, AP sources day  "A man shot and wounded by a uniformed Secret Service officer, prompting President Donald Trump to be abruptly escorted out of a briefing room during a televised news conference, had been threatening to kill people near the White House, two officials familiar with the matter said Tuesday.
"The man was identified as Myron Berryman, 51, and is expected to face federal assault charges, the officials said. He remained hospitalized with critical injuries on Tuesday, they said.
"The officials, who were briefed on the investigation, could not discuss the ongoing probe publicly and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.
Berryman had approached the uniformed officer just before 6 p.m. Monday at the corner of 17th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue, just blocks from the White House, and told the officer he had a weapon, Secret Service Uniformed Division Chief Tom Sullivan said. He then moved aggressively toward the officer and appeared ready to fire before the officer shot him once, Sullivan said.
"Sullivan would not answer questions Monday night about whether the man had indeed been armed, but no weapon was recovered at the scene, the officials said.
Before the shooting, Berryman had been shouting that he was going to kill people, according to the officials familiar with the matter.
"Sullivan said after the man told the officer he had a weapon, he turned around and “ran aggressively toward the officer, and in a drawing motion, removed an object from his clothing,” Sullivan said. The suspect then “crouched into a shooter’s stance, as if about to fire a weapon” before the officer shot the man once in the torso, he said." . . .

The Secret Service statement does not specify whether the individual was armed, but he was reportedly unarmed according to law enforcement sources who spoke with CNN.  "Berryman’s sister, Sonya Hemmelgarn, affirmed that initial reports were inaccurate and told the Dayton Daily News that “Myron was not armed,” according to the Journal News.
“They said he had a weapon? He ran toward him?” Hemmelgarn told the Washington Post. “This is crazy. He is a man of God. He would not have a weapon for sure. His weapon is the word of God.”
She also told the Post that he could have been participating in protests outside the White House.
" 'We are still trying to figure out what is going on and how my brother is doing,” she said, adding that her brother remained hospitalized Tuesday in critical but stable condition.
"The Secret Service said in their Monday statement that the agency would be conducting an internal review of the officer’s actions and that the Metropolitan Police Department was contacted to conduct an investigation. " . . .Pacific Pundit

Watch the video of the encounter and there is no doubt the man was armed.

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