Amarillo native recalls moments after White House shooting

AMARILLO, Texas (KFDA) - An Amarillo native found herself just steps away from a shooting near the White House Saturday evening.

NewsChannel 10 intern Allie Scott was walking near the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in Washington D.C. when she heard what she described as 12 to 15 gunshots ring out near 17th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue.

“I’ve never heard like gunshots at a close range really,” said Scott. “I didn’t know if it was a car backfiring, fireworks or gunshots.”

Police say 21-year-old Nasire Best pulled a handgun from a bag and fired toward Secret Service officers near a checkpoint outside the White House. Officers returned fire and struck him.

A bystander was also hit during the exchange. Authorities describe the gunshot wound as not life-threatening.

Scott says she had walked through the area moments before the shooting and regularly passed through the intersection during her time in the nation’s capital.

“I’ve walked in that exact area about three times a day,” said Scott. “It’s just a very common area to walk through.”

Scott says realizing how close she came to being caught in the gunfire was unsettling.

“At any moment in time, if I was walking slower or it happened at a different time, I could have been right there,” said Scott. “This morning I was there. It was just really creepy. I’m sure I would’ve been there at another point tonight if that didn’t happen and they didn’t shut down all the roads.”

She says hearing gunshots near the White House immediately made her fear it was another attack targeting the area.

“When I heard the shots, I knew I was close to the White House,” said Scott. “My mind automatically went to this is another White House shooting.”

Scott says the moment also reflects how normalized gun violence has become.

“We just had the White House Correspondents’ Dinner one, but it just kind of shows like our minds are automatically going to ‘this was another act of gun violence,’ which is pretty unfortunate,” said Scott.

Officials confirmed the suspect, Nasire Best, later died at the hospital.