A man who was detained by the Secret Service in March for allegedly jumping over the White House fence in March was shot and killed by a police officer Tuesday inside a Pennsylvania courthouse.
Curtis Smith, 34, of Coatesville, entered the Chester County Justice Center in West Chester about noon and attacked a sheriff’s deputy with a knife, said Chester County District Attorney Thomas Hogan.
Another deputy then fired at Mr. Smith, striking him, according to the district attorney.
He was then rushed to the Paoli Hospital, where he died later in the afternoon.
The deputy who was attacked is being treated for injuries to his arm and hand and the deputy who opened fire is being interviewed, ABC reported.
The deputy was taken to a hospital for injuries to his arm and hand and said to be in stable condition Tuesday afternoon. Mr. Smith was taken to a hospital but died from his injuries.
Officials offered no explanation Tuesday of what prompted the attack or why Mr. Smith was at the courthouse.
“He said, ’I’m gonna get ya, I’m gonna get ya.’ He ran right through the door, right through security, and I hear ’pop, pop.’ And it was the sheriff shooting him,” Reiley Aikman, a witness to the attack, told local Philadelphia news channel WPVI-TV.
Mr. Hogan said Mr. Smith was arrested by the Secret Service in March after he jumped the White House fence, one of several security breaches around that time of the White House grounds.
In that incident, court records indicate that Mr. Smith climbed over a wall along E Street Northwest into the White House complex and walked passed “restricted area” signs. When officers approached Mr. Smith, he turned around and placed his hands behind his back. He later told officials that he had driven to the White House to “pass a message to the president.”
He was charged with one count of unlawful entry and his case was later put on the inactive docket. He was due for a status hearing in the case in October.
• Kellan Howell can be reached at khowell@washingtontimes.com.
• Andrea Noble can be reached at anoble@washingtontimes.com.
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