A suspect who shot at a White House checkpoint was killed in an exchange of fire with Secret Service agents on Saturday evening, officials have confirmed.
The BBC’s US media partner CBS has named the suspect as Nasire Best, a 21-year-old man who was known to the protection agency and had a documented history of mental health conditions.
US President Donald Trump thanked the officers for their “swift and professional action” in apprehending the gunman, who he said in a Truth social post had a “violent history and possible obsession with our Country’s most cherished structure.”
The shooting comes only a month after a gunman opened fire at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner.
The incident on Saturday remains under investigation and road closures around the White House will likely stay in place overnight.
Shortly before 18:00 local time (23:00 GMT), a man pulled a gun from his bag and “began firing” outside the White House at the intersection of 17th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington DC, near the Eisenhower Executive Office Building.
Secret Service officers posted on the corner returned fire, striking the gunman. He was then taken to hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
A bystander was also wounded in the shooting, but the Secret Service did not give further details on their condition. No officers were injured in the attack.
Trump was at the White House at the time, but “no protectees or operations were impacted”, the agency said.
The suspect was later identified in US media as Best, who had been known to both the Secret Service and the Metropolitan Police Department and had used a revolver, law enforcement sources told CBS.
A source familiar with the investigation told CBS that Best had attempted to gain entry to the White House in July 2025 and had been arrested by officers nearby, after which he spent time at a psychiatric facility. He had been living in Washington DC for 18 months.
“Thank you to our great Secret Service and Law Enforcement for the swift and professional action taken this evening against a gunman near the White House,” Trump wrote on social media.
Noting that the shooting had occurred since the White House Correspondents’ Dinner was disrupted by a different shooter, he said it showed how important it was “for all future Presidents, to get, what will be, the most safe and secure space of its kind ever built in Washington” – a reference to his planned White House ballroom.
After shots were heard, reporters at the White House were rushed into a briefing room. Some had been filming when the incident occurred and shots could be heard in the distance as they spoke to camera.
“We were told to sprint to the press briefing room where we are holding now,” Wang wrote on X.
Aaron Navarro, a CBS News reporter, told the BBC he had been on the North Lawn when he heard gunshots, “at points sounding like they were coming from different guns, just outside the grounds”.
“As soon as we heard it, we ducked down and I started to see other reporters starting to run, and you shortly heard Secret Service officers saying ‘get inside, get inside’,” he said.
Once inside, he said reporters were locked down in the press briefing room for around 30 minutes. Outside, they saw Secret Service officers and then, just beyond the grounds, they eventually saw ambulances.
Navarro said it was unclear exactly where Trump was inside the White House when the shooting took place and “whether he even heard it, as it was a good distance [away].”
He said the shooting took place in a busy area with a cafe and restaurants, but that it was not as busy as it could have been since the shooting occurred on a weekend evening.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune and House Speaker Mike Johnson praised the Secret Service for their “decisive action” in responding to the shooting.
Thune wrote on a social media that he was “grateful” for their efforts, while Johnson said on X: “Our prayers are with the victims of tonight’s senseless shooting for a speedy recovery.”
SOURCE: BBC NEWS
