The U.S. Secret Service is investigating
after a drone crashed on the White House grounds early Monday morning.
The Secret Service locked down the White
House shortly after 3 a.m. after an officer on the south grounds of the White
House spotted the drone, described as a two-foot wide "quad copter,"
flying above the White House grounds before crashing on the southeast side of
the complex. The officer saw the drone flying at a very low altitude.
"An investigation is underway to
determine the origin of this commercially available device, motive, and to
identify suspects. As additional information becomes available we will update
our statement," Secret Service spokesman Brian Leary said.
The Secret Service was sweeping the White
House grounds on Monday morning looking for anything else that might be on the
ground.
President Barack Obama and the first lady are
both away, traveling in India.
Flying drones is illegal in the District of
Columbia, but that hasn't always kept them out of the capital's skies.
The Secret Service previously detained an
individual operating a quadcopter drone on July 3 in President's Park, just a
block from the South Lawn of the White House, according to a report filed with
the Federal Aviation Administration.
Another person was detained by the U.S.
Capitol Police for flying a drone on the Capitol Hill grounds. And in October,
a drone was spotted above D.C.'s Bolling Air Force Base.
A surge in interest in drones and how they
should be regulated even brought one to Capitol Hill -- inside a committee
room, no less.
Congressmen watched in awe as robotics
company executive flew a drone inside the committee room during a House
Science, Space and Technology Committee hearing on integrating commercial
drones.
The Secret Service patrolling the grounds of
the White House has been in the national spotlight for the past year ever since
a man managed to hop the fence and get inside the White House itself through an
unlocked door. The incident led to the resignation of the Secret Service's
director and reassignment of other top level officials.
An independent report commissioned by the
Department of Homeland Security said in its executive summary said the
department was stretched "beyond its limits" late last year.
Culled from CNN
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