The U.S. Secret Service said officers fatally shot a man who opened fire near a White House security checkpoint Saturday evening at approximately 6 p.m. EDT, the third time in the past month that gunfire has occurred in the vicinity of President Donald Trump. The agency said in a statement posted on X that the man was in the area of 17th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue when he “pulled a weapon from his bag” and began firing. Secret Service officers returned fire and hit the suspect, who later died at a hospital.
The suspect was identified as 21-year-old Nasire Best, according to a law enforcement official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the investigation. The incident marked the latest in a series of security breaches near the White House. MSI previously reported that a gunman fired at officers near the Washington Monument on May 5 and that shots were fired during the White House Correspondents’ Dinner on April 26, with the suspect charged with attempted assassination.
According to District of Columbia court records, Best was arrested in July 2025 after he attempted to enter a different White House checkpoint without authorization, did not 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 before a trial. A bench warrant was issued in August after a notice of “noncompliance” against Best, who did appear for a subsequent hearing.
The Secret Service did not provide additional details about the circumstances of Saturday’s shooting or whether a bystander was injured.