A gunman opened fire Saturday evening at a security checkpoint near the White House, before being killed by Secret Service agents in a firefight that also injured a bystander. US President Donald Trump was inside the White House at the time of the shooting, after canceling all weekend trips due to the crisis with Iran. According to the Secret Service, the president was not involved in the accident. Shortly after 6pm local time (midnight in Italy), a man who was near the security perimeter of the White House “pulled a weapon from his backpack and opened fire”, declared Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi. «Secret Service agents returned fire, hitting the suspect, who was transported to an area hospital where he was confirmed dead. During the shooting, a bystander was also hit,” he added, without providing details on the condition of the wounded man. No officers were hit. Trump commented on the episode with a message published on his social network Truth, in which he thanked the agents for “the rapid and professional action” against “an armed man near the White House who had a history of violence and a possible obsession with the building most dear to our country”. The president underlined that the episode comes one month after the shooting which occurred during the White House correspondents’ dinner and argued that the incident demonstrates “how important it is for all future presidents to create what will be the safest and most protected space ever built in Washington”, referring to the ballroom which is being built at Trump’s request. “The national security of our country requires it,” he added.
Several American media have identified the suspect as Nasire Best, 21, a resident of the State of Maryland. According to US broadcasters, the young man suffered from mental disorders and was already known to the Secret Service for having wandered around the White House several times. The New York Post reports that the young man “was convinced he was Jesus.” After the shooting, police cordoned off the entire area around the White House while National Guard soldiers prevented access to the area. Journalists on the North Lawn of the White House reported on social media that they had been ordered to run for cover in the press room. ABC News correspondent Selina Wang was recording a video for social media when the shots rang out. “It sounded like dozens of shots,” he later wrote on X. A Canadian tourist said he heard between twenty and twenty-five. Trump, 79, has already been the target of three assassination attempts in the past two years. The most recent dates back to April 25, when a gunman attacked a security gate near the ballroom where the president was participating in the traditional dinner with correspondents. In July 2024, during the election campaign, Trump was grazed in the ear during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, in an attack that caused the death of a spectator before the attacker was killed by security forces. A few months later, another gunman was arrested at a West Palm Beach golf course where the president was playing