Past security incidents at the White House

From staff and wire reports

WASHINGTON -- Wednesday's incident near the White House was just the latest instance in which security officials have responded to potential danger around the home of the U.S. president.

Despite the closing of Pennsylvania Avenue in May 1995, several times people have tried to get onto the White House grounds. Some carried guns, and a still-unknown shooter fired four shots at the mansion.

Some recent incidents:

• December 1995: Melvin Doyle Glover, 63, of Texas, was arrested near the White House with a rifle in his car.

• May 23, 1995: A man armed with an unloaded handgun was shot and wounded by a U.S. Secret Service agent on the South Lawn of the White House. The man, identified as Leland W. Modjeski, was accused of climbing over the White House compound's security fence and was running toward the presidential residence when he was shot. Then-President Clinton and his family were "never in any danger," according to a Secret Service spokesman. Officials said Modjeski had a history of mental problems and may have acted out of suicidal impulse.

• Four days before the May 23 incident, President Clinton agreed to a Secret Service recommendation that, in light of the Oklahoma City bombing, vehicular traffic should be blocked from Pennsylvania Avenue in front of the White House.

• December 1994: Lolando Bello, 19, was charged with unlawful entry and making threats after he was found clinging to a fence outside the White House on Christmas Day. Bello was not armed, and he told authorities he just wanted to see the president.

Also in December 1994:

• Joseph Maggio, 36, of Maryland, claiming to have a bomb in his car, pulled his vehicle over by the White House fence, jumped out of the car and was chased down by Park Police and Secret Service officers.

• Franklin Ruff, 27, formerly of Las Vegas, was arrested on the Ellipse, an open park between the south grounds of the White House and the Washington Monument. He allegedly was carrying a gun.

• Richard Green, 44, of Washington, was charged with unlawful entry to the White House grounds. The arrest came after Green entered the grounds when the southwest gate was opened briefly to let a vehicle leave.

• Marcelino Corniel, 33, a homeless man, was shot and killed by police as he stood outside the White House. He had charged across Pennsylvania Avenue brandishing a knife.

• An unidentified person fired at the White House, with four bullets found on the grounds.

• October 29, 1994: A Colorado man, Francisco Martin Duran, fired at least 29 rounds from a semiautomatic rifle at the White House from the sidewalk on Pennsylvania Avenue. No one was injured. President Clinton was "never in danger," officials said. Duran was eventually convicted of attempted murder of the president.

• September 12, 1994: A man, flying a stolen Cessna airplane, entered the prohibited airspace around the White House just before 2 a.m. After passing over the Ellipse, the man, identified as Frank Eugene Corder, crashed on the lawn just south of the Executive Mansion. The plane struck a tree near the South Portico steps and hit a corner on the first floor of the White House. President Clinton and his family were not in the residence at the time. Corder was killed in the crash.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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