Washington, May 24: A man who opened fire Saturday near a White House security checkpoint is dead after being shot by officers who returned fire, the US Secret Service said. It was the third incidence of gunfire in the vicinity of President Donald Trump in the past month.
The law enforcement agency said in a statement posted on X that the man was in the area of 17th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue when he “pulled a weapon from his bag” shortly after 6 p.m. EDT and began firing. Secret Service officers returned fire and hit the suspect, who died at a hospital, the agency said.
The suspect was identified as 21-year-old Nasire Best. According to District of Columbia court records, Best was arrested in July 2025 after he attempted to enter a different White House checkpoint without authorisation, didn’t heed officers’ commands to stop, “claimed he was Jesus Christ” and said he wanted to be arrested.
It was the third time in the past month that shots were fired near the president after incidents at the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner in April and near the Washington Monument earlier in May. (AP)
