A 21 year old Maryland man named Nasire Best has been identified as the suspect who opened fire outside the White House Saturday evening before being shot and killed by U.S. Secret Service. The shooting happened just after 6 p.m. at the security checkpoint near 17th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue NW, and Donald Trump was inside the building at the time.
According to Secret Service, Best walked up to the checkpoint, pulled a weapon from his bag, and started firing on the officers stationed there. Law enforcement sources told CBS News that somewhere between 15 and 30 shots were fired in the exchange. Officers returned fire, struck Best, and he was rushed to George Washington University Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. A bystander was also wounded in the chaos, though officials have not confirmed whose bullet hit them. The White House was placed on a brief lockdown that was lifted shortly before 7 p.m.
What makes the story even more troubling is that Best was already known to federal law enforcement. Sources familiar with the investigation told CBS News he had a prior run in with Secret Service in July 2025, when he tried to gain entry to the White House and was arrested. He was reportedly sent to a psychiatric ward for mental health issues at that time. Reuters reported that a law enforcement official described him as an emotionally disturbed person and said a stay away order had been issued against him previously. None of that stopped him from walking back up to the gates of the most heavily guarded address in the country with a loaded revolver in his bag.
Trump was inside the White House when the gunfire erupted and was not injured. A White House official confirmed he was briefed on the incident shortly after. Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune both released statements praising Secret Service for their quick response. No agents were injured in the exchange.
The investigation is ongoing, and a motive has not been released. What is clear is that a young Black man with a documented history of mental health crises was able to make it back to the same checkpoint he had been removed from less than a year earlier, this time with a gun. The questions about how the system failed at every step, from mental health intervention to threat monitoring, are only beginning. We will continue to update this story as more information becomes available.
Whine ns blame others rinse and repeat. This article focuses on everything but the mentally ill gunman. You blame the system how about starting with his momma and daddy and every orher person who has interacted with this man. One thing I know about the violent mentally ill is that they will not stop unless you lock them up. This guy wanted to hurt people and got himself killed be he mentally ill or not. Stop with your illogical blame game – if they would have kept him in a mental institution people would complain. Sadly this was his trajectory.