A gunman opened fire near a White House security checkpoint on Saturday evening, triggering a lockdown of the White House grounds and a multi-agency law enforcement response that put the machinery of state protection on full display. The U.S. Secret Service said the person who opened fire was shot by officers who returned fire and later died at a hospital. The agency also said a bystander was struck by gunfire, while no officers were injured.
The shooting took place shortly after 6 p.m. near 17th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue outside the White House complex on the west side. The Secret Service said the person in the area pulled a weapon from a bag and began firing. Fox News said the suspect allegedly approached a Secret Service checkpoint near 17th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue NW, removed a weapon from his bag and began firing at posted officers. Fox News also said the suspect fired about three shots toward the executive mansion before he was taken down by Secret Service agents, while another account said as many as 30 shots were reportedly heard in the direction of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building. USA TODAY said the gunman opened fire near the White House Saturday evening and was shot and killed by the U.S. Secret Service, and that the gunman later was pronounced dead at the hospital.
Who Gets Hit First
Authorities identified the suspected gunman as 21-year-old Nasire Best, according to an official familiar with the incident and a law enforcement official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the investigation. Fox News said Best was 21 and of Maryland. USA TODAY said Best was of Dundalk, Maryland. Fox News said multiple sources confirmed to Fox News Digital that the male gunman was identified as Nasire Best, 21, of Maryland.
USA TODAY said court records showed Best had a history of interactions with Secret Service outside the White House. It said he was charged in D.C. Superior Court with attempting to unlawfully enter 1699 State Place NW, one of the entry points to the White House complex, on July 10, 2025. USA TODAY said Best allegedly said he was Jesus Christ and wanted to be arrested, according to a police affidavit, and that the Secret Service was familiar with Best allegedly walking around the White House complex inquiring how to gain access at various entry posts. USA TODAY also said Best was involuntarily committed on June 26, 2025, by the Secret Service for allegedly obstructing vehicle entry to the White House complex at 15th Street and E Street. Fox News said Best was detained by the Secret Service on June 26, 2025, for flagging down agents and making threats, and again on July 10, 2025, for entering a restricted area.
The Secret Service said none of its officers were injured. Fox News said all members of the Secret Service were reported safe, though one uniformed agent was taken to the hospital as a precaution. Fox News said the White House was placed on lockdown and later lifted. USA TODAY said reporters working nearby scrambled and that the incident prompted a multi-agency law enforcement response. It said FBI Director Kash Patel said his agency responded to the incident and posted, "FBI is on the scene and supporting Secret Service responding to shots fired near White House grounds." Fox News said Patel said his agency's agents were at the scene and "supporting Secret Service responding to shots fired near White House grounds." Fox News also said the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Metropolitan Police Department were responding. The Metropolitan Police Department said on X that the Secret Service was working the scene and cautioned people to avoid it.
The Apparatus Moves In
USA TODAY said what sounded like multiple gunshots could be heard in a video posted by ABC News reporter Selina Wang, who wrote that it sounded like dozens of gunshots and that reporters were told to sprint to the press briefing room. USA TODAY said CNN reporters on the scene also said they heard what appeared to be dozens of gunshots near the White House complex, and that members of the press corps gathered on the North Lawn were rushed inside while Secret Service agents shouted "get down" and warned of "shots fired." Reuters said Selina Wang shared dramatic video of the moment she said she heard what "sounded like dozens of gunshots" and ducked for cover, and said the video had been shared thousands of times and viewed at least 3 million times as of Saturday evening.
Reuters said the incident was the third incidence of gunfire in the vicinity of President Donald Trump in the past month. It said the Secret Service said the person was in the area of 17th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue, pulled a weapon from his bag shortly after 6 p.m. ET and began firing, and that the suspect was taken to a hospital where he later died. Reuters identified the suspect as 21-year-old Nasire Best. Reuters said a bystander was also struck on Saturday, but a law enforcement official said it was not clear whether that person was struck by the suspect's initial bullets or those fired subsequently by officers. Reuters said evidence of the shooting was visible on a sidewalk just outside the White House complex, where yellow crime scene tape snaked across the pavement and officers with the U.S. Secret Service placed dozens of orange evidence markers on the ground. It said medical material, including what appeared to be purple surgical gloves and kits typically used by emergency medical personnel, were also seen.
Security for Whom
Reuters said the scene was near where a gunman ambushed two members of the West Virginia National Guard last November. It said U.S. Army Specialist Sarah Beckstrom, 20, died from her wounds, Andrew Wolfe, then 24, was critically wounded, and Rahmanullah Lakanwal has been charged in that incident. Reuters also said the gunfire Saturday came nearly a month after what law enforcement authorities said was an attempted assassination of the president on April 25 as he attended the annual at a Washington hotel. It said Cole Tomas Allen, of Torrance, California, recently pleaded not guilty to charges that he attempted to kill Trump and remains in federal custody. Reuters said that following that scare, Secret Service officers shot a suspect they said had fired at officers near the Washington Monument, also near the White House. It said Michael Marx, 45, of Midland, Texas, was charged in a complaint filed in U.S. District Court in connection with the May 4 shooting, and that a teenage bystander was wounded in that incident.
Trump thanked "our great Secret Service and Law Enforcement for the swift and professional action" in a Truth Social post early Sunday, according to Fox News. Fox News said Trump wrote that the gunman was dead after an exchange of gunfire with Secret Service agents near the White House gates and said the shooting underscored the need for stronger security protections around the White House. USA TODAY said Trump posted on May 24 thanking "our great Secret Service and Law Enforcement for the swift and professional action." USA TODAY also said Trump was working in the White House Saturday on the Iran peace process and had posted on social media from the Oval Office less than two hours before the shooting, saying a peace deal had been "largely negotiated" and that details would be released shortly.