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A bystander remains in serious but stable condition after being wounded by gunfire during a shooting incident outside the White House. The incident, which occurred when a man opened fire on a checkpoint, resulted in the suspect being fatally shot by U.S. Secret Service officers.
The Secret Service disclosed that the bystander, whose identity has not been revealed, sustained a gunshot wound that is not considered life-threatening. However, the circumstances leading to the bystander being shot remain unclear.
Authorities have so far provided limited information regarding the shooting that took place early Saturday evening. According to the District of Columbia Metropolitan Police Department, the suspect, 21-year-old Nasire Best from Dundalk, Maryland, initiated the gunfire at a White House security checkpoint. Secret Service officers responded by returning fire, and Best was subsequently declared dead at the hospital.
No officers were harmed during the incident, as confirmed by Secret Service Director Sean Curran in a statement shared on social media. “Our thoughts are also with the innocent bystander who was wounded during this incident,” Curran expressed. “The Secret Service is hopeful he will make a full recovery.”
At the time of the shooting, President Donald Trump was present in the White House.
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.”