NBC's Julie Tsirkin was reporting in the area when the May 23 shooting occurred
Credit: NBC News/Facebook
NEED TO KNOW
- NBC reporter Julie Tsirkin’s reaction to the White House shooting incident was captured on camera in real-time
- She was recording a news segment in Washington, D.C., when the incident occurred
- The Secret Service has since identified the shooter as 21-year-old Nasire Best
A reporter’s reaction to the White House shooting incident was captured on camera in real-time as she recorded a news segment.
NBC's Julie Tsirkin was reporting in Washington, D.C., on Saturday, May 23, when she heard several gunshots being fired in the area.
In video of the moment later posted on Tsirkin’s Instagram, she can be seen looking confused while standing on the White House grounds, as the gunshots can be heard going off in the background.
“What is that?” she asks a cameraman standing before her, who replies, “It sounds like fireworks."
Tsirkin is then seen running to the press briefing room, as an armed Secret Service agent situates himself to stand guard outside.
Credit: Aaron Schwartz / AFP via Getty; Getty
The Secret Service has since identified 21-year-old Nasire Best as the shooter. Best allegedly approached the White House complex and fired several shots, injuring a bystander. He was then shot and killed by Secret Service agents, CNN and The New York Times reported.
President Donald Trump was in the building at the time, "but was not impacted," a Secret Service spokesperson confirmed to CBS News.
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Tsirkin told NBC News moments after the shooting from the press briefing room, “I was outside of these doors on the North Lawn getting ready to tape something for your show, when myself and my cameraman, John, we heard what sounded like 20 to 30 shots.”
“I ended up running after that happened,” she continued. “I saw a Secret Service agent come out of the security booth, guns drawn, telling the few of us who are out there to 'run inside the press briefing room.’ ”
Tsirkin further explained on Instagram that the suspect “approached the [Secret Service] checkpoint shortly after 6 p.m.” and “pulled a gun from a bag and began firing indiscriminately at the checkpoint."
She said the White House “reacted swiftly” as they locked down the building.
ABC News senior White House correspondent Selina Wang was also reporting in the area at the time of the shooting.
In footage she captured, Wang can be seen recording a video on her iPhone from the White House's north lawn. "It sounded like dozens of gunshots," the journalist captioned the clip.
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