White House briefly locked down for smoke bomb

(Reuters) - The White House was locked down for more than an hour on Tuesday night as authorities investigated what appeared to be a smoke bomb tossed over the fence of the executive compound, a Secret Service spokesman said.

The device was thrown over the fence at one point when about 1,000 to 1,500 "Occupy DC" protesters were demonstrating outside the White House, Secret Service spokesman George Ogilvie said.

He gave the "all clear" later in the evening.

A majority of the protesters had left the area earlier and there had been no arrests, he said.

President Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle, went out to dinner to celebrate her birthday and were not at the White House when the incident began but returned while the investigation was under way.

Members of the White House press pool were prevented from leaving for about 45 minutes before they were escorted off the grounds. Pennsylvania Avenue in front of the White House was also closed during the investigation.

Demonstrators from the Occupy movement marched to the White House after earlier converging at the U.S. Capitol and congressional office buildings to protest against the influence of money on lawmakers.

Several hundred demonstrators, some from as far as Nevada and San Diego, staged rallies and attempts to meet lawmakers as they returned from a holiday break. One demonstrator was arrested for assaulting a police officer and three others for crossing a police line, a Capitol Police spokeswoman said.

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Suspect in shooting near White House arrested

WASHINGTON (AP) — A man with an apparent obsession with President Barack Obama has been arrested in Pennsylvania after the Secret Service discovered two bullets struck the White House while the president was away, authorities said Wednesday.

One bullet smashed into a window of the living quarters of the executive mansion but was stopped by ballistic glass.

The arrest of Oscar Ramiro Ortega-Hernandez, 21, came days after reports of shots fired on Friday night near the White House while Obama and his wife Michelle were on a trip to California and Hawaii. The president has since traveled on to Australia, second stop on a nine-day Asia-Pacific tour, and the White House had no comment on the unfolding events.

The U.S. Secret Service said it discovered Tuesday that the two bullets hit the White House. U.S. Park Police had earlier linked Ortega, a 21-year-old man from Idaho Falls, Idaho, to the reports of gunfire.

A U.S. Park Police crime bulletin issued before Ortega's arrest said he is known to have mental health issues, adding "Ortega should be considered unstable with violent tendencies."

Authorities are investigating his mental health and say there are indications he believed his attack on the White House was part of a personal mission from God, according to a law enforcement official. There are also indications the man had become obsessed with Obama and the White House, according to two officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing.

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Police probe possible shots fired near White House

WASHINGTON (AP) — Police closed a stretch of Constitution Avenue near the White House Friday night to investigate reports of gunfire in the area and recovered an AK-47 assault rifle.

Sgt. David Schlosser of the U.S. Park Police said the White House did not appear to have been the focus of the incident.

Secret Service spokesman Edwin Donovan said witnesses heard shots and saw two vehicles racing on Constitution Avenue toward 17th Street, and one of the vehicles was abandoned at 23rd and Constitution.

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