A 21-year-old man was shot dead by US Secret Service agents when he opened fire on police officers at a checkpoint a short distance from Washington. As announced by the federal agency, which is responsible for the protection of the president, vice president and other high officials of the USA, during the exchange of fire, a bystander was also injured by crossfire.
At the time the episode broke out, he was normally inside the presidency building. The American president, who has been a target for the past two years, had canceled all his planned trips due to the war with Iran. Secret Service spokesman Andy Guglielmi assured through an official statement that the incident did not affect the president in the least.
The timeline of the attack
The armed attack took place a few minutes after 18:00 local time (01:00 Greek time). According to Mr. Guglielmi, the attacker approached the security perimeter of the historic presidency building, “took out a gun from a bag and opened fire.”
“Secret Service officers immediately returned fire and hit the suspect, who was taken to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead. During the exchange of fire, a passing civilian was also hit by bullets,” the spokesman said, declining to give further details on the condition of the injured. At the same time, it was clarified that no agent of the service was injured.
The profile of the 21-year-old
According to information from the American networks CNN and ABC News, the suspect was identified as Nazir Best, aged 21. The young man, originally from the neighboring state of Maryland, was facing serious psychiatric problems and was already known to the Authorities.
As sources of ABC News revealed, Best had attempted to break into the protected area of the White House the day before. At the time, he had approached the guards claiming to be “Jesus Christ” and insisting that they arrest him.
“20 to 25 shots were heard”
The incident caused scenes of panic on the streets of the US capital, with hundreds of tourists running for safety. Reid Adrian, a Canadian tourist, told AFP that he was in the area at the time of the attack, “when suddenly we heard about 20 to 25 gunshots. At first we thought it was fireworks, but we quickly realized it was gunshots and everyone started running in panic.”
At the same time, ABC News correspondent Selina Wang was also on the scene to record video for social media. As soon as she heard the shots, she immediately fell to the ground and recorded the sound of the gunshots with her mobile phone, uploading the document to X. “They sounded like there were dozens of shots,” she noted.
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.
— Selina Wang (@selinawangtv)
Blockade of the area and political reactions
The police proceeded to immediately block all access to the US presidency, while National Guard forces prevented journalists from approaching. At the same time, correspondents in the North Garden of the White House were urgently ordered via X to take cover immediately inside the press room. The head of the FBI and a close ally of the president, Kas Patel, confirmed the mobilization of authorities, saying via X: “The FBI is on the ground and fully supports the Secret Service.”
Finally, the Republican caucus in the House of Representatives took a position on the incident by posting on X: “Thank God, President Trump is safe”, mentioning, along with their “endless gratitude” to the Secret Service, the strong wish that political violence in the country would finally stop.
