Alleged White House shooter charged with assassination attempt

An Idaho man who allegedly fired two shots at the White House last week has been charged with attempting to assassinate President Obama, the U.S. Attorney's office in Washington said on Thursday.

Ramiro Ortega-Hernandez, 21, of Idaho Falls, was arrested on Wednesday in Pennsylvania and taken into federal custody. He was charged on Thursday in a federal court in Pittsburgh and will be taken back to Washington to face the charges. Ortega-Hernandez only said "Yes, ma'am" when asked if he understood he was going back to Washington, according to the Associated Press.

The maximum sentence for Ortega-Hernandez's charge is life in prison.

Obama was not in Washington at the time of the shooting.