By admin 
May 24 (UPI) — The gunman who opened fire at the White House this weekend before being fatally shot by Secret Service officers has been identified as Nasire Best, unnamed sources confirmed to multiple media outlets.
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The 21-year-old had previous encounters with the Secret Service and had previously posted threatening statements online, the sources told CBS News, NBC News and CNN. The sources said Best had never acted violently or brandished a weapon prior to Saturday evening, when police said he approached a checkpoint at the White House, pulled a firearm from his bag and opened fire.
Officers returned fire, striking Best, who was transported to a hospital where he was declared dead, Anthony Guglielmi, chief of communications for the Secret Service, said in the statement.
A bystander was also injured in the shooting and was in critical condition.
“It remains unclear whether the bystander was struck by the suspect’s initial gunfire or during the subsequent exchange of gunfire,” a Secret Service representative told CNN.
President Donald Trump, who was inside the residence at at the White House at the time of the shooting, was unharmed. In a post on Truth Social just after midnight Sunday, Trump thanked the Secret Service for their actions during the shooting.
“Thank you to our great Secret Service and Law Enforcement for the swift and professional action taken this evening against a gunman near the White House, who had a violent history and possible obsession with our Country’s most cherished structure,” Trump wrote.
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Sources told CNN that Best had been detained in June 2025 and committed to the Psychiatric Institute of Washington for evaluation after he blocked an entry lane at the White House and proclaimed he was God. A month later, the Secret Service arrested him after he allegedly tried to enter a White House driveway. A judge told him to keep away from the White House.
Investigators at the time said they found that he had made statements online saying he wanted to hurt Trump and that he was the real Osama bin Laden, the mastermind behind the Sept. 1, 2001, terror attacks.
Trump also took the opportunity in his Truth Social post to renew his stance that the new ballroom he’s constructing would serve as added security at the White House.
“This event is one month removed from the White House Correspondent’Dinner shooting, and 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, D.C. The National Security of our Country demands it!”
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This story was originally published May 24, 2026 at 7:22 AM.