Panic in Washington due to a shooting that occurred a few steps from the White House. A gunman opened fire on Secret Service agents at one of the checkpoints near the White House perimeter and was hit. The attacker died shortly afterwards in hospital following his injuries. According to what emerged, the attacker was called Nasir Best, he was 21 years old and from Maryland. He apparently had mental problems, believed he was Jesus and was banned from the White House. According to what was revealed by investigative sources, in the past he had written on social media that he wanted to harm Trump.
A bystander was also injured in the shooting and is now in hospital in serious condition. Investigators have not yet established whether it was the attacker or the federal agents who hit him.
President Trump, from what we understand, was inside the building where he spent the entire day working with his closest advisors on the agreement with Iran. The tycoon was never in danger. When the alarm went off, the White House went into lockdown, which was lifted after a few hours.
I was in the middle of taping on my iPhone for a social video from the White House North Lawn when we heard the shots. It sounded like dozens of gunshots. We were told to sprint to the press briefing room where we are holding now. pic.twitter.com/iqdQwh4soq
— Selina Wang (@selinawangtv) May 23, 2026
Shooting in front of the White House
The alarm went off around 6.10pm local time. Some journalists were live from the White House gardens when the sound of gunshots was heard. The lockdown started immediately and all the reporters were made to enter the briefing room to find shelter. In a few moments, Secret Service and FBI agents mobilized.
Nasir Best, the social messages and the shots
Nasir Best was 21 years old and from Maryland. It seems that he suffered from mental problems, believing himself to be Jesus. He was known to both the Secret Service and the Washington police. According to CNN, the young man had written on social media that he was “the real” Osama bin Laden. In June 2025, Nasir Best blocked an access lane to the White House. After claiming to be God he was stopped by the Secret Service and admitted to the Washington Psychiatric Institute. The following month, in July 2025, the Secret Service arrested Best again after he attempted to enter a driveway of the White House complex. A judge then issued an order requiring him to stay away from the White House. The investigations are in the early stages. Police recovered the weapon, a revolver.
Trump: “We need the safest and most secure space ever built”
“I thank our extraordinary Secret Service and law enforcement officials for their swift and professional response this evening against an armed man near the White House, who had a history of violence and a possible obsession with our country’s most sacred building,” Trump writes in Truth. The president himself writes that “the gunman died after a firefight with Secret Service agents near the gates of the White House. This event, which occurred a month after the shooting during the White House correspondents’ dinner, demonstrates how important it is for all future presidents to ensure that Washington, DC has the safest and most secure space ever built of its kind. Our country’s national security demands it!”
Attack alert
The shots rekindled the fear of attacks, bringing back memories of the shooting at the correspondents’ dinner at the Hilton hotel in Washington and the two attacks of which the president was the victim. Then last November, near a subway station near the White House, a gunman ambushed two members of the West Virginia National Guard, killing US Army specialist Sarah Beckstrom and seriously wounding another soldier.