‘He was never violent’: White House shooter Nasir Best’s mother breaks silence after watching son’s death on social media

The mother of a man shot dead by Secret Service agents near the White House said she was shocked after learning about the incident online, insisting her son “was never violent.”A woman who is the mother of 21-year-old Nasire Best told The Washington Post she found out about the shooting through a social media post before authorities contacted her.“No matter what people posted, he was never violent,” she said.Best was killed Saturday night after allegedly being shot near a White House security checkpoint. washington d.c.. A bystander was also injured in the exchange of gunfire and is in serious but stable condition, according to U.S. Secret Service officials.The shooting occurred just after 6 p.m. near the intersection of 17th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest, near the Eisenhower Executive Office Building next to the White House complex.Best fired at Secret Service officers stationed near the checkpoint, police said. Police returned fire, causing him serious injuries. He was later pronounced dead at the hospital.President of the United States Donald Trump was inside the White House at the time, but was not injured. No Secret Service agents were injured. Best has had previous encounters with law enforcement near the White House and has a record of mental health issues. He was arrested in July 2025 for allegedly trying to enter White House grounds near another security checkpoint. In that incident, he reportedly ignored police orders, called himself “Jesus Christ” and asked police to arrest him. He later spent time in a mental hospital.The shooting sparked panic around the White House complex, with reporters and TV crews seen in viral videos running for cover amid gunfire.CBS reporter Aaron Navarro described the chaos after the shooting.“As soon as we heard the news we hunkered down and I started to see other reporters starting to run away and soon you heard the Secret Service officers saying ‘get in, get in’,” he told the BBC.ABC reporter Selina Wang also shared footage of reporters covering the White House.Saturday’s incident marked the third armed security scare near the president in the past month. Previous incidents include an armed man disrupting the White House Correspondents’ Dinner and another suspect being fatally shot by a Secret Service agent near the Washington Monument.After the shooting, Trump praised officials involved in the response.“Thank you to our great Secret Service and law enforcement for taking swift and professional action against a shooter near the White House tonight,” he wrote on social media.