The United States Secret Service found itself in the headlines again Friday — and once again, not for the right reasons.
A brand-new agent assigned to former first lady Jill Biden’s protective detail accidentally shot himself at Philadelphia International Airport, setting off what may go down as one of the most awkward incidents in the storied agency’s history.
The agent, who sources say had been on the Jill Biden detail for just one week, was riding in the SUV trailing the vehicle carrying the former first lady when he realized he had left his cell phone behind.
What happened next unfolded quickly — perhaps too quickly.
The agent rushed back to the SUV to retrieve the forgotten phone. In his haste, his pistol slipped free from its holster and landed on the seat.
He grabbed the weapon and, while attempting to return it to the holster, negligently discharged the firearm.
The bullet found an unlikely target — the agent’s own backside.
Susan Crabtree of RealClearPolitics confirmed the details, reporting that the agent “grabbed his pistol quickly and negligently fired it as he was trying to put it back in the holster.”
Emergency medical personnel responded to the scene near Terminal C at Philadelphia International Airport and transported the agent to Penn Presbyterian Medical Center, where he was listed in stable condition and expected to be released later that day.
The Secret Service confirmed that former first lady Biden was not in the immediate area when the firearm discharged, and that airport operations were not disrupted.
NBC News previously reported that agency spokesman Anthony Guglielmi confirmed that the shooting was a “negligent discharge,” and said the Secret Service’s Office of Professional Responsibility would investigate the incident.
Philadelphia police responded to the scene near the 1 PIA Way access point, where crime scene investigators placed two evidence markers inside the trunk of the SUV.
The stumble comes at a particularly uncomfortable time for the Secret Service.
The agency has faced mounting scrutiny since the July 2024 assassination attempt on President Donald Trump at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania — a security failure that prompted some lawmakers to call for the agency’s outright dissolution.
TownHall noted that prior to that, a separate embarrassment unfolded in 2023 when an intoxicated individual managed to slip past a Secret Service detail and gain entry to the home of then-National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan.
Friday’s self-inflicted wound adds another chapter to what has become a difficult stretch for an agency tasked with protecting the nation’s most prominent figures — one that began, in this particular case, with a forgotten cell phone.
