A Secret Service agent was robbed at gunpoint in California over the weekend while President Joe Biden was campaigning in Los Angeles, authorities said Monday.
Police in Tustin, South Los Angeles, said in a news release that officers responded to a report of a possible robbery around 9:36 p.m. on Saturday. Police said they learned the victim was a Secret Service agent who had been “held at gunpoint and had his bag stolen.”
Some of the agent’s belongings were later found at the scene. The suspect has not been identified.
Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said in a statement that the agent, who was off-duty at the time, was returning from a mission and used his weapon during the incident.
“During the incident, an employee fired his duty firearm, but it is unclear if the assailant was shot. We are thankful that no employees were injured,” Guglielmi said, adding that an investigation is ongoing.
Tustin police confirmed the investigation but declined further comment Monday night.
Authorities have not released the agent’s name.
According to Biden’s reelection campaign, the incident occurred on the night that Biden appeared at a Los Angeles fundraiser with former President Barack Obama, actors George Clooney and Julia Roberts and comedian Jimmy Kimmel, which raised a record-breaking more than $30 million for the Democratic Party’s largest fundraiser.
