A US Secret Service agent shot a man who brandished a gun near the White House recently while President Barack Obama was out golfing, and the man was taken to a hospital in critical condition, officials said.

The Secret Service, which protects the President and his family, briefly locked down the White House as a precaution, and Vice President Joe Biden was secured within the White House complex during the lockdown, a White House spokeswoman said.

Authorities later said there appeared to be no link to terrorism. The shooting took place just off 17th and E streets, near what is known as the South Lawn outside the home and offices of the President.

A man carrying a gun approached a checkpoint when uniformed Secret Service officers ordered him to stop and drop the weapon, the Secret Service said in a statement. “When the subject failed to comply with the verbal commands, he was shot once by a Secret Service agent and taken into custody,” the statement said. The man was taken to hospital in critical condition, the District of Columbia Fire and Emergency Medical Services Department said.