The suspect in a shooting near the White House was killed in an exchange of fire with Secret Service agents on Saturday evening, officials have confirmed.
The report indicates that the suspect in a shooting near the White House was killed in an exchange of fire with Secret Service agents on Saturday evening, officials have confirmed.
It further notes that bBC’s US media partner CBS has named the suspect as Nasire Best, a 21-year-old man who was known to the Secret Service and had a documented history of mental health conditions.
In a post to Truth Social, Donald Trump thanked the Secret Service for their “swift and professional action” in apprehending the gunman, who he stated had a “violent history and possible obsession with our Country’s most cherished structure”.
The shooting comes just one month after a gunman opened fire at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner.
The incident on Saturday remains under investigation, and road closures around the White House will likely stay in place overnight.
Shortly before 18:00 (23:00 GMT) on Saturday, a man pulled a gun from his bag and “began firing” outside the White House at 17th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue NW near the Eisenhower Executive Office Building.
Secret Service officers returned fire, striking the gunman. He was then taken to hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
A bystander was also wounded in the shooting, but the Secret Service did not further details on their condition. No officers were injured in the attack.
CBS and other US media later identified the suspect as Nasire Best. He was known to both the Secret Service and the Metropolitan Police Department, law enforcement sources told CBS, and used a revolver.
A source familiar with the investigation told CBS that Best had tried to gain entry to the White House in July 2025 and was arrested near it by Secret Service, after which he spent time in a psychiatric facility. He has been living in Washington DC for eighteen months.
“Thank you to our great Secret Service and Law Enforcement for the swift and professional action taken this evening against a gunman near the White House,” Trump wrote in a post on social media.
He noted that the event was one month removed from the White House Correspondents’ Dinner shooting, and stated it showed how important it was “for all future Presidents, to get, what will be, the most safe and secure space of its kind ever built in Washington”.
After the shots were heard, reporters at the White House were rushed into a briefing room. Some had been filming when the incident occurred, and shots could be heard in the distance as they spoke to camera.
Footage shared by the ABC’s Senior White House Correspondent Selina Wang showed her taking cover as a volley of shots could be heard across the North Lawn.
