Toddler squeezes through White House fence

A toddler slipping through slats in the gate caught the eyes of the gun-toting officers who are charged with protecting the president

August 09, 2014 05:42 AM

A member of the U.S. Secret Service Emergency Response Team (ERT) stands watch on the North Lawn at the White House in Washington, Thursday, Aug. 7, 2014.

By Darlene Superville
Associated Press

WASHINGTON — It’s usually someone jumping over the White House fence that causes Secret Service agents patrolling the grounds to scramble.

But on Thursday night, a toddler slipping through slats in the gate caught the eyes of the gun-toting officers who are charged with protecting the president.

Secret Service spokesman Edwin Donovan said the child was returned to his parents. Neither the boy nor his parents were identified.

Donovan joked that agents were going to wait until the toddler learned to talk to question him about the incident, but says the boy instead was given a “timeout” and was returned to his parents.

It turned out to be somewhat of a challenging day for the Secret Service. Earlier Thursday, Obama’s motorcade came to a rare slow crawl and then a complete stop along a major interstate as he traveled to and from Fort Belvoir in northern Virginia to sign a veterans’ health care bill.

Donovan said mechanical issues with vehicles in the motorcade caused both stops.