(AP) – A bystander, caught in the crossfire during a shooting incident outside the White House, remains in serious but stable condition as of Sunday. The unfortunate event unfolded when a man opened fire at a checkpoint, prompting U.S. Secret Service officers to retaliate, ultimately leading to the suspect’s death.
The Secret Service confirmed that the bystander, whose identity has not been disclosed, sustained a gunshot wound. Thankfully, the injury is not considered life-threatening, though details remain sparse regarding how exactly the bystander was hit.
The shooting, which occurred early Saturday evening, has been shrouded in limited information from authorities. The District of Columbia Metropolitan Police Department identified the suspect as 21-year-old Nasire Best from Dundalk, Maryland. According to reports, Best initiated the gunfire towards the security checkpoint, compelling the Secret Service to respond. He was later declared dead at a hospital.
At the time of this security breach, President Donald Trump was present within the White House. The incident marks the third shooting near the president in recent weeks. Just last month, a man armed with guns and knives disrupted the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner, and earlier this month, Secret Service officers were forced to engage with a shooter near the Washington Monument.
It was the third shooting near the president in the past month, after a man stormed the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner in April armed with guns and knives, and Secret Service officers shot and wounded a man who fired at them earlier this month near the Washington Monument.
In a Truth Social post, Trump said the suspect in Saturday’s shooting had a “possible obsession with our Country’s most cherished structure.” He also used the shooting to promote the ballroom he is seeking to build on the site of the White House’s former East Wing, saying 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.” Trump is asking Congress for $1 billion for security additions for the White House campus, including the ballroom.
Best had a previous run-in with law enforcement near the White House, according to District of Columbia court records. He was arrested last July for attempting to enter White House grounds near a different checkpoint. He failed to heed officers’ commands to stop, claimed to be Jesus Christ and said he wanted to be arrested.
Best was a track and field athlete at Dundalk High School, from which he graduated in 2023.
A woman who identified herself as Best’s mother told The Washington Post that she learned about the shooting on social media and was in disbelief. She said her son “was never violent, regardless of what people are posting.”