Shooting Incident Near White House Security Checkpoint Kills Suspect
A man opened fire near a White House security checkpoint on Saturday evening and was killed after officers returned fire. The shooting marks the third incident of gunfire near President Trump in the past month.
The Incident
A man who opened fire Saturday near a White House security checkpoint is dead after being shot by officers who returned fire, the U.S. Secret Service said. The law enforcement 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" shortly after 6 p.m. EDT and began firing. Secret Service officers returned fire and hit the suspect, who died at a hospital, the agency said.
Suspect Identification
The suspect was identified as 21-year-old Nasire Best, said a law enforcement official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment. A bystander was also struck on Saturday, but a law enforcement official said it wasn't clear whether that person was hit by the suspect's initial bullets or those fired subsequently by officers. Secret Service said none of its officers were injured, and that Trump — who was at the White House at the time — was not "impacted."
Pattern of Security Incidents
It was the third incidence of gunfire in the vicinity of President Donald Trump in the past month. The gunfire Saturday came nearly a month after what law enforcement authorities said was an attempted assassination of the president as he attended the annual White House Correspondents' Association Dinner at a Washington hotel on April 25. Cole Tomas Allen, of Torrance, California, recently pleaded not guilty to charges that he attempted to kill Trump. Allen is accused of running through a security checkpoint inside the hotel and firing a shotgun at a Secret Service officer. Following that scare, Secret Service officers shot a suspect they said had fired at officers near the Washington Monument, several blocks from the White House. Michael Marx, 45, of Midland, Texas, was charged in a complaint filed in U.S. District Court in connection with the May 4 shooting.
Response from Leadership
FBI Director Kash Patel said on social media that agency personnel were on the scene and "we will update the public as we're able."