A person who opened fire Saturday on a White House security checkpoint is dead after being shot by officers who returned fire, the US Secret Service said. It was the third incidence of gunfire in the vicinity of President Donald Trump in the past month.
The law enforcement agency said in a preliminary statement posted on X that the person in the area of 17th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue “pulled a weapon from his bag" shortly after 10am NZ time and began firing. The officers returned fire, hitting the suspect, who was taken to a hospital where he later died, the Secret Service said.
The suspect was identified as 21-year-old Nasire Best, said a law enforcement official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to discuss the investigation.
According to District of Columbia court records, Best was arrested in July 2025 after he attempted to enter a different White House checkpoint without authorisation, didn’t heed officers’ commands to stop, "claimed he was Jesus Christ" and said he wanted to be arrested.
An initial hearing was held, and a “Pretrial Stay Away Order” was issued, typically a measure ordering a defendant not to go near a person or area ahead of trial. A bench warrant was issued in August after a notice of "noncompliance" against Best, who did not show up for a subsequent hearing.
It was the third time in the past month that gunfire has broken out near the president following incidents at the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner in April and near the Washington Monument earlier in May.
A bystander was also struck on Saturday, but a law enforcement official said it wasn’t clear whether that person was struck by the suspect’s initial bullets or those fired subsequently by officers.
Secret Service said none of its officers were injured, and that Trump — who was at the White House at the time — was not "impacted".
Journalists working at the White House on Saturday (local time) reported hearing a series of gunshots and were told to seek shelter inside the press briefing room.
In a tweet, the Secret Service said it was “aware of reports of shots fired near 17th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue NW” — one block from the White House — and was “working to corroborate the information with personnel on the ground.” It said it will have an update shortly.
In a social media post, FBI Director Kash Patel said officers were responding to shots fired and said he would “update the public as we’re able".
US President Donald Trump was inside the White House at the time.
In a post shared on X, Selina Wang, the senior White House correspondent for ABC News, shared dramatic video of the moment she said she heard what “sounded like dozens of gunshots” and ducked for cover.
Writing that she had been performing a task that reporters at the White House do day in and day out — filming themselves on a cellphone, for a social media post — Wang’s video shows her speaking for a few seconds about Trump’s statements about a potential Iran deal.
As the sounds of gunfire are heard in the background, Wang’s eyes grow wider, and she ducks down in the media tent, which is among those situated in a line along the White House driveway where broadcasters film their reports.
Wang’s video had been shared thousands of times as of Saturday evening and viewed at least 3 million times on X, formerly Twitter.
The Metropolitan Police Department said on its X Account that the Secret Service was working the scene and cautioned people to avoid.
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