SOUTHAVEN, Miss. - A car penetrated the security perimeter around the arena where President Bush was speaking Saturday and rammed the building. Authorities swarmed the car with weapons drawn and took away the driver, a woman, and three children who were with her.
Bush was not hurt, and no shots were fired from or at the car, White House spokesman Trent Duffy said. Bush left the arena shortly afterward from an exit about 40 yards from the car. The president was in his limousine at the time of the incident, a senior Bush administration said.
"There was a vehicle that did crash into the side of the building," Duffy said, although it was "not close" to the president's car.
"The president was never in any danger and is keeping with his schedule," Duffy later told reporters aboard Air Force One as Bush flew to Paducah, Ky.
He declined to say whether Bush saw what happened or say what the president's reaction was.
The woman was not immediately identified. A witness, Linda Neeley, 40, a teacher from Horn Lake, Miss., said the children, all boys, were about 10 years old.
She and other witnesses said the woman drove a gray Toyota Camry through a parking lot on same side of the DeSoto Civic Center as the president's exit. The car jumped the curb, drove through a gate where press buses had just left and into the side of the building near a loading dock.
Police rushed the car immediately and dragged out the woman and children. She was handcuffed and all three were taken away. Local law enforcement officials detained the suspect, Duffy said.
The president's motorcade was still parked at the center, where Bush had given the first of four campaign speeches scheduled for Saturday.