ABC News photographer Chris Plater at first thought he heard the sound of construction near a subway stop in downtown Washington, D.C., on Wednesday. He soon realized that something more serious had happened.
“I immediately went forward to see what was going on,” he told ABC News Live. “I see two members of the National Guard down and there are people working with them, giving them first aid.”
Plater filmed the frantic first response moments after the two National Guard members were shot near the White House in what officials called an apparent “targeted” attack. The incident was reported at 2:20 p.m. ET at the entrance to the Farragut West subway station, according to a DC police officer.
ABC News photographer Chris Plater, left, speaks with ABC News Capitol Hill correspondent Jay O’Brien.
ABC News
“It was all here, you know, just a bunch of people running in the opposite direction, across the park and past me,” Plater said of the scene after the sounds of gunshots. “One person said something like, you know, the guy went up there and started shooting at the National Guard.”
Stacey Walters told ABC News Live that she was traveling in an Uber at the time of the shooting.
“I heard ‘boom boom’ twice,” he said. “I was looking at my cell phone and my Uber driver said, ‘Why are all these people running?'”
Witness Stacey Walters, left, speaks with ABC News Capitol Hill correspondent Jay O’Brien.
ABC News
He said he looked out the window and heard an adult telling the young children to run.
“Then I heard someone yell ‘Help, help’ in the direction of the shooting,” he said.
A police officer told them to turn the vehicle around, he said.
“It’s such a beautiful day, you know, that was the first thing I thought about, who would do this? The holidays are getting ready,” she said.
He was struck by seeing the children fleeing the scene.
“They were on both sides of the road. Little kids running,” he said.
Law enforcement officers secure the area after a shooting in downtown Washington, DC, on November 26, 2025.
Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images
The two National Guard members shot were a woman and a man, according to a law enforcement official briefed on the situation. Both were in critical condition, FBI Director Kash Patel said Wednesday.
A single suspect is in custody, authorities said. The unidentified suspect was shot during the incident and was transported to a hospital for treatment, police said.
Multiple law enforcement agencies, including the U.S. Marshals, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the FBI, responded to the shooting. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said her agency was working with local authorities to gather more information.
ABC News’ Briana Stewart, Jay O’Brien, Luke Barr, Pierre Thomas, Josh Margolin and Aaron Katersky contributed to this report.
