Bystander in serious condition after Secret Service shoots gunman near WH security checkpoint

WASHINGTON, DC: The bystander remains in serious but stable condition after being shot outside the White House security checkpoint on Saturday, May 23.

Secret Service officers fatally shot the gunman, identified as 21-year-old Nasire Best, after he opened fire toward the security post.

White House bystander injured in shootout

The shooting happened early Saturday evening when Nasire Best, of Maryland, approached the White House security checkpoint and started firing his weapon. Secret Service officers immediately returned fire and hit the suspect.

Best was taken to a nearby hospital, where doctors later pronounced him dead. During the exchange of gunfire, the unidentified bystander was struck and suffered a non-life-threatening gunshot wound.

The Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia and other authorities are still investigating the case to determine exactly how the bystander was shot, and they have not yet released many details about the incident.

Third shooting near Trump in one month

It should be noted that President Donald Trump was inside the White House when the gunfire started, making this the third shooting incident near the president in the past month.

This latest event follows a dangerous situation in April when a man carrying guns and knives entered the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner.

Furthermore, in another incident earlier this month, Secret Service officers shot and wounded a man who fired a gun at them near the Washington Monument.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, Melania Trump, President Donald Trump, and Weijia Jiang attend as Mentalist Oz Pearlman hosts The White House Correspondents Dinner at Washington Hilton on April 25, 2026 in Washington, DC (Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for OP)

Trump cites shooting in White House security push

After the shooting, Trump wrote a message on Truth Social saying that the suspect had a “possible obsession with our Country’s most cherished structure.”

He used the situation to discuss his request to Congress for $1 billion to add new security features to the White House, including a secure ballroom where the East Wing once stood.

Trump stated that 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, DC.”

According to court records, Best had a history with law enforcement at the White House and was arrested last July for trying to enter the grounds through another checkpoint.

During that incident, he did not comply with officers’ orders, claimed to be Jesus Christ, and said he wanted to be arrested.

Best graduated from Dundalk High School in 2023, where he ran track and field. His mother told 'The Washington Post' that she found out about the shooting on social media and could not believe it, saying that her son “was never violent, regardless of what people are posting.”