Secret Service agents removed Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff from a speaking event at Dunbar High School in Washington over what a White House staffer called a security threat reported to the school.
Mr Emhoff, the husband of Vice President Kamala Harris, was midway through his remarks at a meeting with students from the Carter G Woodson Academy of Black Studies when an agent on his security detail approached him at 2.18pm and whispered to him: “We have to go”.
At 2.34pm, a public address announcement was made ordering teachers and students to evacuate the building, which is located on N street in Northwest Washington, DC.
A District of Columbia public schools spokesperson, Enrique Guttierez, said the evacuation was prompted by “a bomb threat”.
“We had a threat today to the facility so we did — basically we took the precaution of evacuating everybody,” said Mr Guttierez, who added that he thought “everyone” was “safe” after the evacuation.
“The building is clear ... but I don’t have any specific details at this moment,” he added.
Zachary Parker, a member of the District of Columbia school board, said on Twitter that he could “confirm there’s an ongoing investigation of a bomb threat at the school”.
Dunbar High School principal Nadine Smith said the school’s protocol in the event of such a threat is to “clear the building and move the kids away”.
She added that students had been sent home for the day on orders from DC Public School officials because it would take at least “another hour or two” for police to search the building for explosive devices.
Katie Peters, Mr Emhoff’s communications director, said in a statement that the Secret Service had been “made aware of a security threat” at the school where Mr Emhoff had been speaking, and that he was “safe”.
“We are grateful to Secret Service and D.C. Police for their work,” she added.
In a statement to The Independent, a Secret Service spokesperson said the agency “was made aware of a threat to the venue” where “a protectee” — Mr Emhoff — was speaking and “immediately evacuated” him.
“At this time there is no information to indicate the threat was directed toward our protectee,” said the spokesperson, who added that the agency “does not discuss our protectees or the means and methods used to conduct our protective operations” so as to best “maintain operational security”
Representatives for the District of Columbia Metropolitan Police did not immediately respond to requests for further information from The Independent.
