On May 2, 2011, Osama bin Laden, the founder and first leader of the Islamist militant group al-Qaeda, was shot and killed at See more

The official mission code name was Operation Neptune Spear. Neptune's spear is the trident, which appears on the U.S. Navy's See more

Approach and entry
The raid was carried out by approximately two dozen heliborne U.S. Navy SEALs from DEVGRU's Red Squadron. For legal reasons (namely that … See more

Pakistan came under intense international scrutiny after the raid. The Pakistani government denied that it had sheltered bin Laden, and said it had shared information with the CIA and other intelligence agencies about the compound since 2009. See more

Accounts of how bin Laden was located by U.S. intelligence differ. The White House and CIA director John Brennan stated that the process began with a fragment of information … See more

Leaks of the news
Around 9:45 p.m. EDT, the White House announced that the president would be addressing the nation later in the evening. At 10:24:05 p.m. … See more

Several officials who were present in the Situation Room, including the president, told reporters that the code name for bin Laden was "Geronimo". They had watched Leon Panetta, … See more