A Secret Service agent was injured Friday morning after negligently discharging his firearm and shooting himself in the leg while escorting former first lady Jill Biden through the Philadelphia International Airport, the agency told The Daily Wire.
The agent fired the weapon just after 8:30 a.m. while on a protective assignment. He was transported to a local hospital, where he was listed in stable condition. No one else was injured.
“The Secret Service’s Office of Professional Responsibility will be reviewing the facts and circumstances of this incident. We are grateful for our law enforcement and public safety partners who provided medical assistance,” the Secret Service said.
After the shooting, a large police presence was reported in Terminal C of the airport, according to CBS affiliate KYW-TV. A medic unit responded to the scene and then left the area, followed by a Philadelphia police car.
The Secret Service has faced intense scrutiny from the public and from Congress after the July 13, 2024, assassination attempt on President Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, which was one of the agency’s most serious security failures in modern history.
Last year, more scandals hit the Secret Service after a uniformed division officer allegedly fell asleep while on duty at the United Nations General Assembly, and an armed individual bypassed security screening at Trump National Golf Club in Virginia.
Despite those incidents, the Secret Service has also been praised for recent operations. In September, Secret Service personnel took down a network of electronic devices in New York that had been used to target senior federal officials with telecommunications threats.
In February, agents shot and killed an armed man who attempted to break into Mar-a-Lago with a shotgun.
