Shots Fired near White House While Donald Trump Was Inside – What Happened

A gunman opened fire near the White House on Saturday evening while President Donald Trump was inside. Here is everything that unfolded.

Reporters filming live outside the White House on Saturday evening suddenly found themselves ducking for cover as the unmistakable crack of gunfire rang out across the North Lawn. What followed was a tense, chaotic scene that put the entire complex on lockdown and left one man dead.

Emergency teams work the scene after multiple rapid-fire gunshots ring out outside the White House on May 23, 2026 in Washington, DC. | Source: Getty Images

On the evening of May 23, 2026, a 21-year-old man named Nasire Best pulled a revolver from his bag and opened fire at a White House security checkpoint at the intersection of 17th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., near the Eisenhower Executive Office Building.

Secret Service officers posted at the corner returned fire immediately, striking Best multiple times. He was transported to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead. President Donald Trump was inside the White House at the time and was unharmed.

Officials confirmed that no protectees or ongoing operations were affected. One bystander was also struck during the exchange and was seriously wounded, though the Secret Service did not release further details on their condition. No officers were injured.

Emergency teams work the scene after multiple rapid-fire gunshots ring out near the White House on May 23, 2026 in Washington, DC. | Source: Getty Images

Who Was Nasire Best?

Best was no stranger to law enforcement. According to reports, he had been known to both the Secret Service and the Metropolitan Police Department before the shooting.

Sources revealed that he had a documented history of mental health conditions and had been well-known to the Secret Service for repeatedly loitering around various White House entry posts.

Nashire Best | Source: X/StevenJLatham1

His prior run-ins with the law paint a troubling picture. Best had previously been involuntarily committed on June 26, 2025, after obstructing vehicular traffic near 15th Street and E Street NW.

He was then arrested again on July 10 for unlawful entry, after bypassing a restricted White House pedestrian control post by walking through an exit turnstile lane.

When detained by D.C. police and Secret Service agents during that incident, court records noted that Best claimed he was Jesus Christ and said he wanted to be arrested. He had been living in Washington, D.C. for approximately 18 months at the time of the shooting.

The Scene Outside

The shooting took place in what CBS News reporter Aaron Navarro described as a normally busy area, lined with cafés and restaurants. Although the weekend evening meant the streets were somewhat quieter than usual.

Navarro had been on the North Lawn reporting live when the shots rang out. In footage shared online, he can be seen mid-broadcast when the gunfire begins. He stops, listens, and his expression shifts as the gravity of the situation sets in.

Aaron Navarro hears gunshots mid-broadcast at the White House on May 23, 2026. | Source: X/ThePremium24X

He quickly removes his microphone and earpiece and ducks out of view as the shots continue in the background. In the distance, armed Secret Service agents can be seen taking up positions near black SUVs.

People begin running for safety. Shortly after, sirens wail in the distance as emergency responders flood the area. Navarro and his crew eventually move on the orders of Secret Service agents, directing them to clear the scene.

He later revealed that he had been on the North Lawn when he heard the gunshots, describing them as "at points sounding like they were coming from different guns, just outside the grounds."

He added, "As soon as we heard it, we ducked down and I started to see other reporters starting to run, and you shortly heard Secret Service officers saying 'get inside, get inside.'"

Reporters Scramble for Cover

The chaos was captured by multiple journalists reporting from the White House grounds that evening. ABC News senior White House correspondent Selina Wang was in the middle of recording a social media video on the North Lawn when the shots began ringing out behind her.

The sound didn't immediately register, and she continued briefly before multiple rapid gunshots prompted her to duck beneath the camera equipment alongside whoever was filming. A male voice can be heard urgently saying, "Down!" as the firing continued.

Wang later wrote on Instagram, "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. The President is currently at the White House."

Over at NBC News, Capitol Hill correspondent Julie Tsirkin was preparing to begin her own report when the shots were fired nearby. Unlike some of her colleagues, Tsirkin did not immediately register what she was hearing. Footage shows her pausing, confused, asking twice, "What is that?" before the severity of the situation became clear.

Once the Secret Service had cleared the grounds, all journalists were ushered urgently into the press briefing room, where they were held under lockdown for approximately 30 minutes.

Footage from inside showed a packed room of reporters, including Navarro and Tsirkin, waiting as the situation was assessed.

Reporters hold up their phones near a window in the Press Briefing room after a lockdown was triggered at the White House in Washington, D.C., on May 23, 2026. | Source: Getty Images

Navarro later shared footage from inside the White House as journalists gathered and took stock of what had just happened. Outside the grounds, reporters could see Secret Service officers on patrol, and ambulances began arriving beyond the perimeter.

The windows of the nearby White House History Shop were left shattered by stray bullets, with visible impact points punched through the glass panels facing the street — a stark reminder of just how close the gunfire had come to a heavily trafficked civilian area.

Political Reaction

Trump took to Truth Social following the incident, writing, "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."

He confirmed that the gunman had been killed in the exchange of gunfire near the White House gates, and noted that the incident came just one month after the shooting at the White House Correspondents' Dinner.

Trump used both events to underscore his push for what he described as the safest and most secure presidential space ever built in Washington, D.C.

The July 2024 assassination attempt at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania — in which Trump was grazed on the ear — also loomed large as context for the heightened security concerns.

Donald Trump posts on his Truth Social account from the hospital after the Pennsylvania shooting in Brussels, Belgium, on July 14, 2024. | Source: Getty Images

House Speaker Mike Johnson spoke to reporters on Sunday morning, saying, "We live in a heightened threat environment, it's a very serious issue." He also revealed that when he spoke to Trump after the shooting, the president did not bring it up, adding that he "accepts it" as a "risk of the job."

Senate Majority Leader John Thune praised the Secret Service's response on social media, commending their "decisive actions" in protecting the president and bystanders.

Leaders across both parties condemned the shooting, with Rep. Cory Mills stating there is "no place in America for political violence," and Rep. Betty Column urging the public to unite behind the belief that differences should be resolved at the ballot box.

FBI Director Kash Patel also confirmed the bureau's involvement, posting on X, "FBI is on the scene and supporting Secret Service responding to shots fired near White House grounds — we will update the public as we're able."

The shooting is being investigated, and while no political motive has been confirmed, authorities continue to look into the circumstances surrounding Best's actions that evening.