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The suspect approached a Secret Service checkpoint at 17th and E Streets, brandished a weapon and the agents engaged with him. He was shot in the abdomen and taken into custody, a law enforcement source told CNN.
The press corps has been told to shelter in place, then were moved to the basement after reports of shots fired at the corner of West Executive and Pennsylvania avenues.
The location is inside the pedestrian area between the West Wing and the Eisenhower Executive Office Building.
President Barack Obama is not in the executive mansion, although he was earlier in the day, according to the White House schedule. He is reportedly golfing.
The White House complex, which includes the executive mansion, the Eisenhower Executive Office Building and several other buildings, is 18 acres. The 7-acre Lafayette Square lies directly north, while the 52-acre Ellipse is directly to the south.
Vice President Joe Biden was on the property and was secured, according to law enforcement.
The shooting involved a uniformed Secret Service, according to Roll Call's Adriel Bettelheim.
One person has been transported to a local hospital with critical injuries, DC Fire and EMS tweeted. That shooting happened at 17th and E Streets NW.
A suspect is believed to have fired onto the White House complex grounds and is down and in custody, CNN photographer Peter Morris reported.
The gunman is a white male, according to NBC's Pete Williams. The FBI's Capital Response Team is on the way to the White House, Fox News' Chad Pergram tweeted.
Here we go again, another provocation by the PTB to adopt more police draconian measures, more surveillance, more everything to destroy the public voice and dissent.
Seems to me at the present time the US is a seething powder keg. Just waiting for the right moment to be ignited. Adding to the fire is the monstrosity called the US Presidential race in the US, a caricature, full of bread an circuses. The Empire is in it's death throes. The same thing happened in Ancient Rome if on cares to read history.