The intruder who scaled a fence and ran across the White House Lawn apparently got much deeper into the building that previously reported, according to the Washington Post.
Knife-wielding Omar Gonzalez overpowered a guard when he first entered the mansion.
Then, unbelievably, he ran through most of the first floor, through the East Room and towards the Green Room until he was finally apprehended.
Alarm buttons called "crash boxes""were reportedly muted because they were "noisy" and because they malfunctioned and went off at irregular intervals.
Gonzalez is the first known intruder to have actually entered the White House.
It is mind-boggling to think of the danger that the First Family could have been in if they had been in this person's path.