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White House lockdown lifted after object thrown over fence deemed harmless

By Allen Cone and Stephen Feller
The White House was placed on lockdown Monday after a package was thrown over the fence. File Photo by Roger L. Wollenberg/UPI
The White House was placed on lockdown Monday after a package was thrown over the fence. File Photo by Roger L. Wollenberg/UPI

WASHINGTON, May 30 (UPI) -- The White House was placed on a brief lockdown Monday after a suspicious package was thrown over a fence at the North Lawn along Pennsylvania Avenue.

An unidentified person -- reported to be a woman -- threw a container over the North Lawn fence of the White House. The person was taken into custody.

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The U.S. Secret Service and D.C. Fire's Special Ops, a hazmat team, were called to the scene, determining the object had negative results and did not pose any danger.

The incident began at around 1:15 p.m., shortly after President Barack Obama arrived at the White House from a visit to Arlington National Cemetery where he laid a wreath in a Memorial Day ceremony.

On May 22, the White House was put on lockdown after an armed man identified as Jesse Olivieri was shot by the Secret Service at a checkpoint near the White House. Olivieri was shot after he allegedly failed to drop the firearm.

Two days later, the White House was placed on lockdown when party balloons drifted over White House grounds and landed on the North Lawn, the press office roof and the Eisenhower Executive Office Building.

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