Washington’s Secret Service said Saturday that a man who fired near a security checkpoint outside the White House was dead after Secret Service officers returned fire and hit him. The incident drew immediate lockdown attention around the complex after the exchange began near a prominent roadway intersection, and it added to heightened concern about gun violence in the vicinity of President Donald Trump.
The Secret Service 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” shortly after 6 p.m. EDT and began firing. Officers returned fire and hit the suspect, who died at a hospital, according to the agency.
The Secret Service identified the suspect as 21-year-old Nasire Best, and a law enforcement official speaking on condition of anonymity told AP that officers had engaged the suspect after he started shooting. The agency said none of its officers were injured and that Trump, who was at the White House at the time, was not “impacted.”
Secret Service officials also said a bystander was struck during the incident, but the exact cause of the injury was unclear. A law enforcement official said it was not clear whether the person was hit by the suspect’s initial bullets or by shots fired subsequently by officers.
AP reported that evidence of the shooting was visible on a sidewalk outside the White House complex, where yellow crime-scene tape stretched across the pavement. Secret Service officers placed dozens of orange evidence markers on the ground, and medical material, including items that appeared to be purple surgical gloves and emergency kits, were also seen at the scene.
The incident occurred within walking distance of last year’s attack involving members of the West Virginia National Guard. U.S. Army Specialist Sarah Beckstrom, 20, died from wounds she suffered in that shooting, while Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe was critically wounded; Rahmanullah Lakanwal has been charged in that case, according to AP.
Saturday’s shooting also came nearly a month after authorities said there was an attempted assassination of Trump at the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner on April 25. In that earlier episode, Cole Tomas Allen, of Torrance, California, pleaded not guilty to charges that he attempted to kill Trump by running through a security checkpoint inside a hotel and firing a shotgun at a Secret Service officer, AP reported.
The Secret Service said the Saturday incident marked the third time in the past month that shots were fired near the president. AP described two other recent episodes: gunfire reported near the Washington Monument earlier in May, and shots fired after the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner in April.
Journalists working at the White House reported hearing gunshots and being instructed to seek shelter. In a post shared on X, ABC News senior White House correspondent Selina Wang shared video and wrote that she heard what “sounded like dozens of gunshots” and ducked for cover while filming for a routine social media post; the sound of gunfire was audible behind her as she moved to shelter.
District of Columbia court records cited by AP show that 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, and “claimed he was Jesus Christ” and said he wanted to be arrested. Court records also described a “Pretrial Stay Away Order,” and AP reported that a bench warrant was issued in August after a notice of “noncompliance,” with Best later appearing for a subsequent hearing.
FBI Director Kash Patel said in a social media post that agency personnel were on the scene and that the FBI “we will update the public as we’re able.”