TERRIFIED reporters were filmed frantically ducking for cover as a deranged attacker opened fire at a White House checkpoint.
The 21-year-old gunman, Nasire Best, was killed in an exchange of bullets with Secret Service agents around 6pm yesterday.
A number of journalists were in the middle of taping their news reports about the looming US-Iran deal while at the presidential residence.
Shocking footage shows them frantically scrambling for safety as the sound of gunshots rings out nearby.
ABC’s senior White House correspondent Selina Wang was filming a social media video on her iPhone when she was forced to hit the deck.
A video she shared on X shows the sheer terror on her face amid the live fire in the near distance before she “sprinted” inside the briefing room.
She said: “Many gunshots were heard when we were at the White House. We were told to run into the press briefing room.”
In other footage, CBS News reporter Aaron Navarro appears confused as the first shots are heard, but he quickly realises the danger, removes his earpiece and gets low.
He told the BBC he had been on the North Lawn when he heard gunshots, “at points sounding like they were coming from different guns, just outside the grounds”.
He added: “As soon as we heard it, we ducked down and I started to see other reporters starting to run, and you shortly heard Secret Service officers saying ‘get inside, get inside’.”
NBC News Correspondent Julie Tsirkin said that an estimated 20 to 30 shots were fired.
“Secret service told those of us gathered on the north lawn to run inside the press briefing room,” she said.
“USSS officers, gun drawn, told us to run inside. White House now on lockdown.”
Once inside, reporters were guarded in the room for around 30 minutes.
They saw Secret Service officers and ambulances outside and beyond the grounds as the situation unfolded.
Navarro said it was not clear if Donald Trump was inside when the shooting took place, and “whether he even heard it, as it was a good distance [away]”.
Best was reportedly seen pacing manically around the checkpoint before he pulled out a revolver and initiated the firefight.
He was quickly subdued by a hail of bullets, before he was taken to hospital and succumbed to his injuries.
Another bystander was also hit and seriously injured in the firefight.
It has since been revealed that Best had a history of mental health issues and was known to police.
Trump later praised the Secret Service on Truth Social while recalling the shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner last month.
He wrote: “Thank you to our great Secret Service and Law Enforcement for the swift and professional action taken this evening.
“This event… goes to show how important it is, for all future Presidents, to get, what will be, the most safe and secure space of its kind ever built in Washington, D.C.”
The Secret Service said that according to a preliminary investigation, “the person approached a checkpoint, removed a weapon from his bag and began firing at posted officers.”
The FBI, police and security forces swarmed the area and dramatic footage showed Secret Service officers armed with rifles patrolling on the North Lawn of the residence.
