An intruder who was vandalizing the residence of Peru’s ambassador in Washington D.C. was shot dead by Secret Service agents on Wednesday. Authorities though remain uncertain on why the individual felt motivated to attempt to intrude on the ambassador's property.

On Wednesday, two uniformed officers with the U.S. Secret Service responded to a report of a “burglary in progress” involving a man at the Peruvian ambassador's residence just outside Rock Creek Park. The man was reportedly smashing windows at the property and he was carrying a metal stake.

According to Robert Contee, the chief of the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department, the Secret Service officers approached the man in the rear yard of the residence. Initially, they attempted to subdue him with a taser but the weapon was ineffective. Officers then shot the man with their service weapons, killing him.

In a press conference after the shooting, Contee said that the officers involved were being treated at a local hospital and that no one else was hurt in the incident. The Peruvian Embassy in Washington also released a statement confirming the ambassador and his family are safe.

But much about the intruder currently remains unknown. Contee described them as a man in their late twenties or thirties but added that they were not an individual police were aware of beforehand. He also said that there was no indication that the intruder knew that he was vandalizing the property of an ambassador.

"This is a very fluid situation," Contee said. "We don't know who this individual is, we don't know why this person was on the ambassador's property."

Beyond its well-known role in protecting presidents and vice presidents, the Secret Service is also tasked with providing security to foreign embassies and diplomatic residences in the U.S. capital.

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