Soldier wounded in shooting near White House plans to sue Secret Service

Benjamin Del Real Jr. was visiting the White House with his father and sister on May 23 when a gunman opened fire on Secret Service agents across the street. Del Real and other bystanders dropped to the ground, but as the agents returned fire, a bullet struck Del Real in the abdomen, critically wounding him, an attorney for Del Real said Tuesday.

The gunman, later identified as Nasire Best, was killed in the exchange.

Now, Del Real, 25, is pursuing a lawsuit against the U.S. Secret Service, accusing its agents of negligent conduct for wounding him in their response to the shooting.

Secret Service agents “are trained to identify and neutralize targets without hurting or injuring civilians. They are trained to anticipate and expect the unexpected, and, unfortunately, they fell well short of their training on May 23 of this year,” Joseph T. Murphy, a Chicago-based attorney representing Del Real, said at a news conference Tuesday.

Murphy said Tuesday that Secret Service agents fired the shots that wounded Del Real, noting that Best was facing away from Del Real throughout the exchange. Murphy also said that a confidential source claimed security footage of the incident clearly shows that agents were responsible for shooting Del Real.

The shooting occurred near the Eisenhower Executive Office Building and a White House security checkpoint. Best, the gunman, previously had been charged with unlawful entry when he tried to enter the White House complex in July 2025, according to court records.

Murphy filed notice of a lawsuit under the Federal Tort Claims Act, the first step in suing the federal government for damages. The notice also requests that all evidence, including firearms and shell casings, be preserved as well as surveillance video from all nearby points.

Murphy said he has sent multiple requests for information to the Secret Service but has not received substantive answers about how agents responded or who was responsible for shooting Del Real.

Del Real, an active-duty soldier stationed at Fort Bragg in North Carolina, said Tuesday that he worries that the long-term effects of his injuries will hamper his career in the Army. “The degree of uncertainty that accompanies being seriously wounded presents its own unique challenges because the road to recovery will be long and strenuous,” Del Real said at the news conference.

Del Real was rushed to George Washington University Hospital immediately after the shooting, where he underwent multiple surgeries, according to medical records filed with the claim. He was then admitted to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center for rehabilitation and follow-up care.

His sister, Sara Del Real, said that seeing her brother bleeding on the ground was “undoubtedly the scariest moment of my life.”

She said she hopes the lawsuit will provide the answers her family deserves: “We need to know exactly what happened, and we believe those responsible for my brother’s shooting should be held accountable.”

A Secret Service spokesperson declined to comment on the lawsuit, saying the agency does not comment on pending litigation. The spokesperson referred The Washington Post to the U.S. attorney’s office for D.C., which is leading the shooting investigation. That office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.