A man opened fire on a White House security checkpoint Saturday evening before being fatally shot by Secret Service officers, leaving one bystander wounded in what marked the third shooting near the president in a single month.
The suspect, later identified by authorities as 21-year-old Nasire Best of Dundalk, Maryland, was not unknown to law enforcement. Nearly a year earlier, he had been taken into custody near a different White House entrance after ignoring officers and making erratic claims.
On Saturday, he did not survive the encounter. An uninvolved person nearby was hospitalized with a wound doctors described as non-life-threatening, though their condition remained serious into Sunday. No officers were hurt, but President Donald Trump was in the White House at the time.
Congressman Juan Ciscomani (R-AZ) took to X shortly after news broke, directing his comments at the federal agents on the scene: "Thank you to the brave Secret Service agents who acted swiftly against the threat targeting the White House and President Trump," he wrote.
One Wounded Bystander
Secret Service Director Sean Curran confirmed no officers were injured and said the agency's thoughts were with the wounded bystander, expressing hope for a full recovery.
What stood out beyond Saturday's shooting was the pattern surrounding it. This marked the third armed incident near the president in under 30 days. Earlier in May, the Secret Service shot and wounded a separate individual who fired at officers near the Washington Monument.
Before that, an armed man made it inside a major Washington press dinner in April carrying both guns and knives.
Furthermore, President Trump responded, posting on Truth Social that the suspect had a violent history and a fixation on the White House.
He tied the incident directly to his push for a major security expansion, writing that the shooting "goes to show how important it is, for all future Presidents, to get what will be, the most safe and secure space of its kind ever built in Washington, D.C. The National Security of our Country demands it."
