The US Secret Service has launched a review of White House security procedures after an intruder scaled a fence, sprinted across the lawn and gained entry to the presidential residence.
The White House - both the workplace and home for the president - is generally regarded as one of the most secure and protected places on the planet.
All the more troubling, Secret Service officials said, that Friday's fence jumper, identified as Omar Gonzalez, entered the building unimpeded.
"Although last night the officers showed tremendous restraint and discipline in dealing with this subject, the location of Gonzalez's arrest is not acceptable," said the statement released by the Secret Service late on Saturday, noting that he was restrained only after entering the White House North Portico doors.
An agency within the Department of Homeland Security, the Secret Service is tasked with protecting America's highest elected officials and visiting foreign officials, and securing events of national significance.
The investigation was ordered by Secret Service Director Julia Pierson, whose office said that the review's findings would be submitted to DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson.
The Secret Service statement said the review began on Friday, with a physical assessment of the site and personnel interviews, and would encompass "all operational policies and security procedures during this process".
In the interim, Pierson has "ordered the immediate enhancement of officer patrols and surveillance capabilities along the Pennsylvania Avenue fence line around the White House complex," the statement said, adding that the measures went into effect late Friday.
President Barack Obama and his family were not home at the time, though officials and journalists were rushed out of the building during the disturbance.
The announcement of the internal Secret Service probe came the same day as a second, less serious incident, when a man was arrested at the White House and charged with trespassing.
Secret Service spokesman Brian Leary told AFP that a man was placed under arrest when he turned up in his car a short time after being denied entrance at a pedestrian access point.
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