White House Shooter Taken Down by Secret Service | Crime Alert 05.27.26

A 21-year-old man who opened fire at a White House security checkpoint shot down, bystander hurt. Arrest made in beer-keg vandalism of popular D.C. cupcake shop. Sydney Silvagni reports. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Speaker 1: Crime Alart hourly update, breaking crime news Now. I'm Sidney Silvani.

Speaker 1: A deadly escalation of violence unfolded just outside the White

Speaker 1: House this past weekend, marking a terrifying trend of security

Speaker 1: breaches targeting the nation's capital. On Saturday evening, shortly after

Speaker 1: six pm, gunfire erupted near a security checkpoint in the

Speaker 1: area of seventeenth Street and Pennsylvania Avenue, Northwest. According to

Speaker 1: an official preliminary statement released by the US Secret Service

Speaker 1: on x an individual approach to the security post pulled

Speaker 1: a weapon directly out of his bag and opened fire

Speaker 1: on posted officers. Secret Service agents reacted instantly, returning fire

Speaker 1: and striking the suspect. The gunman was transported to a

Speaker 1: local area hospital, where he was later pronounced dead. During

Speaker 1: the chaotic exchange, a bystander was also struck by gunfire,

Speaker 1: According to law enforcement officials speaking anonymously, it remains unclear

Speaker 1: whether that innocent bystander was hit by the suspect's initial

Speaker 1: rounds or caught in the crossfire during the subsequent exchange

Speaker 1: of bullets. Fortunately, no Secret Service personnel sustained injuries. President

Speaker 1: Trump was inside the White House at the time of

Speaker 1: the shooting, but officials confirm he was not impacted by

Speaker 1: the incident. The suspect has been officially identified as twenty

Speaker 1: one year old Nazir Best. This was far from Best's

Speaker 1: first interaction with White House Security District of Columbia court

Speaker 1: records reveal a deeply disturbing history of mental instability and

Speaker 1: unauthorized incursions. In June twenty twenty five, Best was involuntarily

Speaker 1: committed after obstructing vehicle entry to the White House complex.

Speaker 1: Just a month later, in July, he was arrested after

Speaker 1: attempting to breach a different White House checkpoint. During that encounter,

Speaker 1: he ignored direct commands from officers to stop, claimed he

Speaker 1: was Jesus Christ, and explicitly stated that he wanted to

Speaker 1: be arrested. Court filings detailed that Best had been walking

Speaker 1: around the complex actively probing various entry posts to find

Speaker 1: a way inside. Following that July arrest, law enforcement requested

Speaker 1: a stay away order. While a pre trial stay away

Speaker 1: order was initially granted, a bench warrant was issued for

Speaker 1: Best in August after a notice of non compliance when

Speaker 1: he failed to appear for a scheduled court hearing. The

Speaker 1: scene outside the White House on Saturday night looked like

Speaker 1: a warzone. Journalists working inside the complex reported hearing a

Speaker 1: rapid succession of gunshots and were immediately ordered to seek

Speaker 1: shelter inside the press briefing room. In a social media post,

Speaker 1: FBI Director Cash Bettel confirmed that federal officers were actively

Speaker 1: responding to the active shooter situation on the sidewalk just

Speaker 1: outside the complex. Yellow crime scene tape cordoned off the area,

Speaker 1: while Secret Service investigators placed dozens of orange evidence markers

Speaker 1: across the pavement, alongside discarded medical supplies, including purple surgical

Speaker 1: gloves and emergency trauma kits. This fatal encounter marks the

Speaker 1: third time in just one month that gunfire has erupted

Speaker 1: in close proximity to the president. It follows in April

Speaker 1: twenty fifth attempted assassination of President Trump as he attended

Speaker 1: the annual White House Correspondence Association dinner at a Washington hotel.

Speaker 1: In that case, Cole Thomas Allen of Torrance, California, recently

Speaker 1: pleaded not guilty to attempted murder charges and remains in

Speaker 1: federal custody. Just days later, on May fourth, secret Service

Speaker 1: officers shot another suspect forty five year old Michael Marks

Speaker 1: of Midland, Texas, after he opened fire near the Washington Monument,

Speaker 1: wounding a teenage bystander. More crime and justice news After this,

Speaker 1: A bizarre case of felony vandalism against a nationally recognized

Speaker 1: Washington d C. Bakery has ended in an arrest thanks

Speaker 1: to a father doing the right thing. Charles Joseph Ali,

Speaker 1: a resident of Rockville, Maryland, officially surrendered to authorities at

Speaker 1: the Metropolitan Police Department Second District station on Thursday. He

Speaker 1: did so alongside his attorney and his own father, who

Speaker 1: had shockingly recognized Ali from surveillance footage broadcast by police.

Speaker 1: Court documents revealed that Ali is charged with felony destruction

Speaker 1: of property after he allegedly hurled a heavy metal beer

Speaker 1: keg straight through the front glass window of Georgetown Cupcake

Speaker 1: on Sunday, May sixteenth, around eleven thirty pm. Appearing in

Speaker 1: court on Friday, Ali entered a plea of not guilty,

Speaker 1: while the judge ordered his release ahead of trial. A

Speaker 1: strict stay away order was implemented, barring him from going

Speaker 1: anywhere near the establishment. Ali is also a prime suspect

Speaker 1: in an April vandalism incident at a separate nearby business,

Speaker 1: though charges have not yet been filed in that case.

Speaker 1: Georgetown Cupcake, which skyrocketed to international fame on the reality

Speaker 1: show d C. Cupcakes, is owned by sisters Sophie La

Speaker 1: Montaigne and Catherine Berman. In a joint statement released to

Speaker 1: the media, the sisters defiantly stated, our shop is open.

Speaker 1: We will keep doing what we have always done. Plywood

Speaker 1: was quickly erected over the shattered entrance, allowing the bakery

Speaker 1: to reopen just hours after the assault. However, the emotional

Speaker 1: toll on the staff remained severe. Catherine Berman told Fox

Speaker 1: News Digital that a lone female employee was working inside

Speaker 1: the shop at eleven thirty pm when she came face

Speaker 1: to face with the suspect. The terrified employee fled to

Speaker 1: the back of the store to hide as the front

Speaker 1: entrance was completely demolished. Berman noted that the worker remains

Speaker 1: deeply shaken and psychologically traumatized by the event. Surveillance footage

Speaker 1: captured the suspect trying desperately to rip a metal trash

Speaker 1: can out of the curb, before failing, walking around the

Speaker 1: block and stealing a metal beer keg. Sitting outside a

Speaker 1: nearby home to use as a weapon. Berman stated, he's violent,

Speaker 1: and I think we live in a civil society where

Speaker 1: there's an expectation for us to respect each other, our property,

Speaker 1: and clearly he didn't do any of those. Thanks. Allie

Speaker 1: is scheduled to return to the courtroom on June eleventh

Speaker 1: for the latest crime and justice breaking news. Be sure

Speaker 1: to tune in tomorrow on your favorite podcast app with

Speaker 1: this crime alert. I'm Sidney Sylvani