Three times over the past month, shots have been fired in the vicinity of top U.S. officials.
The latest shooting occurred Saturday evening, when a gunman approached the White House complex, took a gun out of a bag and opened fire before being shot and fatally wounded by Secret Service officers.
A bystander was also struck by gunfire, Secret Service officials said. No details were provided on the person or the severity of the injuries. No officers were wounded, the Secret Service said.
President Trump, who was in the White House at the time, thanked the Secret Service and law enforcement officers for their efforts and described the gunman as having “a violent history” and a “possible obsession” with the White House.
Here’s what we know:
Who is the shooter?
The gunman was identified by two officials with knowledge of the investigation as Nasire Best, 21, and was taken to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Mr. Best was arrested last July for walking into a restricted area on the White House grounds and ignoring signs and commands to stop. At that time, according to an affidavit filed in D.C. Superior Court, Mr. Best was already known to Secret Service personnel “for walking around the White House complex inquiring how to gain access at various entry posts.”
He was involuntarily held that June for blocking a vehicle entry on the east side of the White House, the affidavit said. At the time of that arrest, on a misdemeanor charge of unlawful entry, he had no pending warrants. He told officers at the scene that “he was Jesus Christ and that he wanted to get arrested.”
