An Idaho man suspected of firing an assault rifle near the White House has been charged with attempting to assassinate President Obama.
Oscar Ramiro Ortega-Hernandez, 21, had his first appearance in federal court in Pittsburgh on Thursday, a day after he was captured in a hotel in western Pennsylvania. He faces a sentence of up to life in prison if convicted.
According to charging documents, Ortega-Hernandez had increasingly become agitated with the federal government and was convinced that authorities were conspiring against him. Witnesses from Idaho told investigators that Ortega-Hernandez wanted to "hurt" Obama and referred to the president as "the anti-Christ."
About 9 p.m. on Friday, Ortega-Hernandez fired several shots from a semi-automatic rifle with a large scope through the passenger window of his 1998 black Honda Accord from the Ellipse of the White House toward the executive mansion, authorities said.
Bullets struck the south side of the White House, police said. A bullet hole was discovered in a window on the Truman Balcony, in the middle of the first family's living quarters.
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Ortega-Hernandez sped away from the site of the shooting and abandoned the car on the ramp of the Theodore Roosevelt Bridge to Virginia. Police found the gun — a Romaninan Cugir SA — along with ammunition, brass knuckles and a baseball bat.
Hours before the shooting, Arlington County police stopped Ortega-Hernandez after getting a call about a "suspicious person." Police asked to search his vehicle, but he refused. Police did not have probable cause to arrest him, but they took his picture for their records.
The photo would prove valuable during the manhunt for Ortega-Hernandez. An employee at a Hampton Inn near Indiana, Pa., saw the suspect and recognized him from a handout that earlier had been distributed by Secret Service agents.
Police said Ortega-Hernandez arrived in the D.C. area several weeks ago. He had been reported missing Oct. 31 by his family in Idaho Falls.
