NBC reporter Julie Tsirkin responds to live White House shooting reaction going viral

NBC reporter Julie Tsirkin has responded to her viral reaction over the recent White House shooting, which occurred over the weekend.

Police said 21-year-old Nasire Best opened fire towards a White House checkpoint on Saturday evening (23 May) before being shot dead by Secret Service officers.

Best, of Dundalk, Maryland, was later pronounced dead at a hospital.

Court records show Best had previously been arrested near the White House after trying to enter the grounds and claiming to be Jesus Christ.

A bystander who was struck by gunfire remained in serious but stable condition on Sunday (24 May).

The Secret Service said the bystander, who has not been identified, suffered a gunshot wound described as not life-threatening.

US President Donald Trump was inside the White House at the time but was not impacted. The incident marked the third shooting near the president in the past month.

Tsirkin's reaction to Saturday's shooting was captured live on camera.

The NBC reporter has since shared footage of the moment on her Instagram account, showing her responding to dozens of gunshots being fired near her.

"What is that?" she can be seen asking an off-camera cameraman, who replies: "It sounds like fireworks."

She can then be seen running to the press briefing room while an armed Secret Service agent stood guard outside.

"Less than one month after the shooting at the White House correspondents' dinner, we cover another shooting just outside of the White House tonight…" she captioned the video, shared on Sunday (24 May).

"My cameraman, John, and I were getting ready to tape something on Iran for Nightly News when what sounded like 20-30 loud booms rang out very close by.

"Twice in one month, I found myself face to face with a USSS agent yelling at me to get to safety, guns drawn. I find myself thankful, again, that I could run to safety when so many run to danger.

"A male suspect approached the USSS checkpoint shortly after 6 pm this evening when he pulled a gun from a bag and began firing indiscriminately at the USSS checkpoint, according to USSS.

"Officers returned fire at the suspect and shot him. A bystander was also shot."

Many social media users flooded Tsirkin with praise for how she handled the stressful ordeal, which has since been made into countless memes, with one writing: "I call her Diva Julie Tsirkin, the Queen of White House Side-Eye!"

"Queen, you’re such an icon," beamed a second as a third chimed in: "Absolute queen."

Others, however, were far less complimentary, with another hitting out: "Survival instincts of a napkin."

Tsirkin has since shared a follow-up statement, writing in the comments to her post: "Thank you for the (mostly) empathetic comments. And to the not-so-empathetic ones:

"1) There is absolutely zero evidence of this shooting, the Butler shooting or the WHCD shooting being staged. A disturbed man known to police started firing indiscriminately at USSS agents outside of the White House tonight. A bystander was shot. And it could have been far, far worse had officers not jumped into action.

"2) You never know how you’re going to react. I repeat: you never know how you’re going to react. I have had hostile environment training. I’ve been in several. I certainly had no idea I would be recorded while experiencing something like this. I actually walked out there to record something for the show tonight on the looming Iran deal, and not 30 seconds later, this. One month ago, when I heard clear gunshots, I immediately jumped under a table. Today, I genuinely was not sure; I was inside the White House, the most secure place on the planet, and we convinced ourselves the sounds were just about anything else. I am also a journalist, and I was looking around to see how agents were responding in real time. It was only when I came face-to-face with an agent, gun drawn, that I immediately ran to the White House… still trying to film it all and report in the process, and worrying about my cameraman, John, who was not far behind.

"3) What disgusts me and upsets me more than anything I’ve experienced and witnessed is the rhetoric online. It’s ugly. Thankfully, I’ve had the privilege of travelling around this country and each time I am blown away by the kindness and warmth of Americans. Empathy costs you nothing."

Tsirkin has also opened up about the incident during a recent interview with NBC4 Washington, where she explained: "Unfortunately, just four weeks ago, we heard gunshots at the White House Correspondents Dinner.

"My colleague threw me under the table. And so we knew very recently what gunshots sounded like.

"In this case, we were inside the White House, where I'm standing right now, yesterday, just after 6 p.m., my cameraman and I heard about 20 to 30 loud booms ring out.

"They were so fast and concurrent that for a second John looked at me and said, 'Are those fireworks?' I immediately looked around to see what the Secret Service agents were doing, because of course, we are journalists. Our job is to report.

"They did not seem alarmed until those gunshots stopped. I peeked my head out again out of this tent we're standing in.

"And then I saw a Secret Service agent run out of a security checkpoint with a gun drawn, telling us to run inside the press briefing room in the White House.

"They locked down the White House at that point, and they had a Secret Service officer stationed outside those doors.

"So it was a very stressful situation, certainly for White House officials who, unfortunately, are used to these kinds of situations happening around or near the president.

"He was in the White House at the time working out that Iran deal."