White House intruder had 800 bullets in his car

Omar Gonzalez, 42, who broke into the White House on Friday, was viewed as a threat to the president, new evidence suggests

The former sniper who broke into the White House on Friday was twice found with a cache of weapons and was viewed as a threat to the president, according to damning new evidence that has prompted an urgent review of security surrounding Barack Obama.

After Omar Gonzalez, a 42-year-old Iraq war veteran, scaled the perimeter fence, sprinted across the north lawn and carried a knife into the residence, prosecutors revealed on Monday that a search of his nearby car uncovered 800 rounds of ammunition, a machete and two hatchets.

Is also emerged that Virginia police searched Gonzalez’s car after a high-speed chase in July and found an illegal sawn-off shotgun, two powerful rifles, four handguns and a map of Washington with a line drawn pointing to the White House.

Although President Obama had left minutes before the incident on Friday, growing information on the threat posed by Gonzalez has led to criticism of White House procedures, particularly after officials appeared to acknowledge that the front door of the residence was unlocked.

The US secret service, which protects the president, is conducting an internal review of how Gonzalez was allowed to breach the presidential mansion's security.

There have been several dozen incidents of people jumping the fence in recent years, including a toddler who slipped through the railings only last month, but it is highly unusual for someone to gain entrance to the residence itself and Earnest confirmed that part of the security review would look at why Gonzalez was not stopped by the dog patrols, snipers and other offices who guard the site.

The culture and effectiveness of the US secret service has been under growing scrutiny in recent months, especially after an agent was found drunk in the hallway of a Dutch hotel during a presidential visit in March, and after several agents were accused of buying prostitutes during a summit in Colombia 2012.

Police in Washington have also been accused of over-reacting to intruders in the past, most recently when a woman who attempted to drive her car into a White House gate with a young baby inside was shot and killed.