Washington (CNN)—The U.S. Secret
Service is interviewing a "person of
interest" after a drone crashed on the
White House grounds early Monday
morning as part of its investigation into
the incident, a law enforcement official
said.
The Secret Service locked down the
White House shortly after 3 a.m. after an
officer on the south grounds of the White
House spotted the drone, described as a
two-foot wide "quad copter," flying above
the White House grounds before crashing
on the southeast side of the complex. The
officer saw the drone flying at a very low
altitude.
"An investigation is underway to
determine the origin of this commercially
available device, motive, and to identify
suspects. As additional information
becomes available we will update our
statement," Secret Service spokesman
Brian Leary said.
The law enforcement official said it
appears the drone was "for recreational
use." The official could not confirm
whether the person came in voluntarily.
A Secret Service official said the owner of
the drone called in after seeing reports of
the drone on the news, though it's not
clear the two sources were referring to
the same individual.
The Secret Service was sweeping the
White House grounds on Monday
morning looking for anything else that
might be on the ground.
President Barack Obama and the first
lady are both away, traveling in India.
RELATED: No, you can't fly drones over
the White House
Flying drones is illegal in the District of
Columbia, but that hasn't always kept
them out of the capital's skies.
The Secret Service previously detained an
individual operating a quadcopter drone
on July 3 in President's Park, just a block
from the South Lawn of the White House,
according to a report filed with the
Federal Aviation Administration.
Another person was detained by the U.S.
Capitol Police for flying a drone on the
Capitol Hill grounds. And in October, a
drone was spotted above D.C.'s Bolling
Air Force Base.
A surge in interest in drones and how
they should be regulated even brought
one to Capitol Hill -- inside a committee
room, no less.
Congressmen watched in awe as robotics
company executive flew a drone inside
the committee room during a House
Science, Space and Technology
Committee hearing on integrating
commercial drones.
Drone flies inside Congressional
hearing 00:42
The drone even crashed in the committee
room, though it did recover.
The Secret Service patrolling the grounds
of the White House has been in the
national spotlight for the past year ever
since a man managed to hop the fence and
get inside the White House itself through
an unlocked door. The incident led to the
resignation of the Secret Service's
director and reassignment of other top
level officials.
An independent report commissioned by
the Department of Homeland Security
said in its executive summary said the
department was stretched "beyond its
limits" late last year.

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