Staff writers
The gunman who was shot dead by Secret Service agents near the White House on Saturday evening (US time) had a history of mental health issues and reportedly believed he was Jesus Christ.
Multiple US media outlets have identified the man as Nasire Best, 21, who was known to both the Secret Service and the Metropolitan Police Department.
The man was originally from Maryland but had been living in Washington for 18 months, CBS reported.
Officers had encountered Best multiple times near the White House last summer, CNN and The New York Times reported.
A court affidavit says he was “known to the Secret Service” for “walking around the White House complex, inquiring how to gain access at various entry points”.
He was involuntarily committed to a psychiatric hospital on June 26, 2025, for a mental health assessment after “obstructing vehicle entry” to part of the White House complex, the court documents said. Then, on July 10, he ignored warning signs and walked into a restricted area outside the White House, where multiple officers confronted him.
Best claimed to be Jesus Christ and said that “he wanted to get arrested”, the court documents said. A judge issued a “stay-away order” the day of his arrest, apparently barring him from the area around the White House. After he did not show up for a hearing in August a bench warrant was issued.
Social media belonging to Best, CNN reports, includes one post that appeared to threaten violence against US President Donald Trump and another post where he wrote, “I’m actually the son of God”.
A Secret Service spokesman confirmed the suspect opened fire about 6pm Saturday (8am Sunday AEST), before being taken down by agents’ gunfire.
He had pointed the gun at a window of a security checkpoint on the outskirts of the White House complex. Best was taken to hospital, where he later died.
Trump later wrote on Truth Social that the shooter had a “violent history and possible obsession” with the White House.
Earlier this month a man was charged in connection with a May 4 shooting near the Washington Monument, near a motorcade for US Vice President JD Vance.
A month ago gunfire interrupted the White House Correspondents’ Dinner at the Washington Hilton.
There were two previous assassination attempts on Trump. In July 2024, at an open-air campaign rally in Pennsylvania, a man with an AR-15-style rifle climbed a nearby roof and shot at Trump, managing to graze his ear. Another attendee was killed and two more injured, before Secret Service snipers took out the gunman.
The following September a sniper was caught outside Trump’s golf course in West Palm Beach, Florida. He was sentenced in February to life in prison.
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