White House lockdown after object thrown over fence

The White House was placed on lockdown after a woman threw something over the north fence along Pennsylvania Avenue.

Reporters were not allowed to venture out of the White House press room and a call to the Secret Service was not immediately returned.

However, a woman was detained. She was placed in handcuffs. Fire trucks and a hazardous materials response unit were called to the scene. It is common for officers to sweep the grounds after such incidents to ensure nothing dangerous was thrown over the fence.

The lockdown ensued shortly after President Barack Obama returned from delivering a Memorial Day speech at Arlington National Cemetery.

In May, the White House went into lockdown after a a Secret Service agent shot and critically wounded a man who refused to drop his gun close to a checkpoint near the White House, CNN reported.

In April, the residence was shut down twice in two days, first after a package containing papers and a phone was thrown over the fence by a man who was arrested on site, and secondly after a man accused of stealing a purse tried to escape police by jumping over a White House fence.

In November, Joseph Caputo was arrested after jumping over the fence as the president and his family celebrated Thanksgiving inside.