Accused White House intruder heavily armed during arrest

Published 9:47 am Tuesday, September 23, 2014

WASHINGTON — Two months before Omar J. Gonzalez allegedly hopped a White House fence, dashed across the North Lawn and entered the executive mansion, he was arrested in rural Virginia, heavily armed and carrying a map of Washington tucked inside a Bible — with a circle drawn around the White House.

The 42-year-old Army veteran from Copperas Cove, Texas, had been arrested July 19 in rural southwestern Virginia after a state trooper received a call about a man in a Ford Bronco driving erratically. He was taken into custody after a brief pursuit and a trooper found an illegal, sawed-off shotgun in the gray sport utility vehicle, according to Wythe County Deputy Commonwealth Attorney David Saliba.

After his arrest, troopers and agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives found weapons that included two semi-automatic, military-style rifles, including one with a bipod and flashlight and one with a bipod and scope; three .45-caliber handguns; and several loaded ammunition magazines.

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