Nasire Best Killed After Firing At Secret Service Checkpoint Near White House

A 21-year-old man identified as Nasire Best was shot dead by U.S. Secret Service officers on Saturday evening after approaching and firing at a security checkpoint near the White House, with the incident occurring shortly before 6:00 p.m. local time at an intersection near the Eisenhower Executive Office Building.

“The man shot dead near the White House had been previously detained in the area and had mental health problems”

El Ideal Gallego

The Secret Service said the shooting happened near the presidential complex where U.S. president Donald Trump was located, and a bystander was wounded during the exchange of gunfire.

El Ideal Gallego

El Ideal Gallego reported that Best had been previously detained in the area and had mental health problems, and it said he had been taken to a psychiatric facility in June 2025 after another incident in the White House area in which he claimed to be Jesus Christ.

The Times of India added that Best was killed after police said he fired towards Secret Service officers stationed near the checkpoint, and it said officers returned fire, fatally wounding him, with no Secret Service officers injured.

After the shooting, Donald Trump used the incident near the White House to advocate for the ongoing construction of a large ballroom at the presidential residence, saying on Truth Social, "Thanks to our excellent Secret Service and law enforcement for the rapid and professional action tonight against a man armed near the White House".

Le Figaro reported that Trump justified the ballroom on security grounds as an armed man attempted to enter the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner hall, and it said the attacker was arrested before entering the hall where the dinner was taking place.

Le Figaro

Le Figaro also described the ballroom plan as having been suspended after a district judge ordered construction to stop, ruling that the Trump administration was not authorized to fund the project with private donations and requiring it to identify the law authorizing it to demolish the East Wing without Congress’s approval.

In the same coverage, Le Figaro said Trump wrote, "This incident would never have happened if the ballroom, militarily classified as \"top secret\" and currently under construction at the White House, had already existed."

Nasire Best’s mother told The Washington Post that she was shocked after learning about the incident online and insisted her son “was never violent,” saying, “He was never violent, regardless of what people are posting,” according to The Times of India.

“The mother of the man shot dead by Secret Service officers near the White House has said she was left shocked after learning about the incident online, insisting her son “was never violent””

The Times of India

The Times of India reported that the bystander injured during the exchange of gunfire remained in serious but stable condition, and it said Trump was inside the White House at the time but was unharmed.

The Times of India also described the shooting’s immediate aftermath as panic around the White House complex, with CBS journalist Aaron Navarro telling the BBC, "As soon as we heard it, we ducked down and I started to see other reporters starting to run".

El Ideal Gallego added that Trump recalled the incident comes one month after the assassination attempt he suffered at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, and it said Trump stressed that national security demands the safest space of its kind ever built in Washington.