The bystander shot near the White House last month during an exchange of gunfire between the Secret Service and a gunman has been identified as an active-duty U.S. Army soldier, a 25-year-old private first class who was sightseeing with his family when a bullet tore into his abdomen and left him in critical condition.

Clifford Law Offices announced Friday that it represents Benjamin Del Real, confirming he was the man wounded near a Secret Service checkpoint on May 23. The firm said Del Real required surgery and is still recovering. His attorney, Joseph T. Murphy, described the injuries as "severe."

Three weeks after the shooting, no one has publicly confirmed whose bullet struck Del Real. The Secret Service acknowledged on the day of the incident that it could not say whether the bystander was hit by the suspect's gunfire or by return fire from its own officers. Ballistics results are still pending.

But multiple sources told News4 that investigators have determined Del Real was shot by the Secret Service, a finding, if confirmed, that would mean a young soldier serving his country was critically wounded by the very agents charged with protecting the area around the president's home.

What happened at the checkpoint

The Secret Service said 21-year-old Nasire Best of Dundalk, Maryland, approached the checkpoint at Pennsylvania Avenue and 17th Street NW at about 6 p.m. on May 23, pulled a gun from a bag, and opened fire. Officers returned fire and killed Best. No Secret Service personnel were injured. President Donald Trump was at the White House at the time and was not harmed.

Del Real, however, was not so fortunate. Sources previously told News4 that the 25-year-old was shot in the abdomen and rushed to George Washington University Hospital in critical condition. AP News reported that Del Real is stationed at Fort Bragg and was training to become an enlisted member of the Special Forces.

A U.S. Army spokesperson, Maj. George Wasickanin of the John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School, told AP: "Our focus is on the continued support for Pfc. Del Real and taking care of his family."

That a soldier preparing for one of the military's most demanding career paths was nearly killed while walking near the White House with his relatives is a grim fact that deserves more attention than it has received.

A gunman the Secret Service already knew

Nasire Best was not a stranger to the Secret Service. Court filings described by NBC Washington show that Best was known to the agency for repeatedly walking around the White House and asking about how to gain access at various entry posts. In June, the year was not specified, Best was involuntarily committed after obstructing vehicle entry to the White House complex.

In July, Best was accused of walking into a restricted area near the White House, then claiming he was Jesus Christ and demanding to be arrested. Five senior law enforcement officials told NBC News that Best had a history of mental health concerns.

The pattern is hard to miss. A man with documented mental health issues and repeated run-ins at the White House perimeter was still able to walk up to a checkpoint with a firearm in a bag and open fire. This raises a question that neither the Secret Service nor any other agency has publicly answered: what, if anything, was done with the intelligence the agency already had about Best?

The incident came just weeks after a 15-year-old bystander was grazed by a bullet near the Washington Monument during another clash between an armed man and the Secret Service. NBC Washington referenced "3 Secret Service-involved shootings in 30 days" in a May 25 headline, a pace of violence around the nation's most protected address that should alarm anyone paying attention.

The Secret Service won't say much

News4 has repeatedly pressed the Secret Service for answers. At a Wednesday news conference focused on summer events and the America 250 celebrations, a Secret Service official identified as Tara McLeese described the shooting as an active investigation led by D.C. police and said she could not confirm or deny anything.

Interim Chief of Police Jeffery Carroll said the shooting victim was sightseeing and that ballistics results had not come back to determine who shot him. Investigators are working to identify every round fired by the Secret Service and trace where each one went.

The Washington Examiner reported that authorities have not confirmed whether Del Real was struck by Best's bullet or by an agent's return fire. The Metropolitan Police Department is leading the investigation.

Attorney Murphy issued a carefully worded statement on behalf of Del Real:

"At this time, we are investigating the circumstances surrounding the incident and gathering all available facts. We will continue to work with the appropriate authorities to determine exactly what occurred and to ensure a full and accurate understanding of the events that led to our client's severe injuries. Our primary focus remains on our client's recovery and well-being."

That language, "to determine exactly what occurred", suggests Del Real's legal team is not satisfied with the answers they have received so far. The retention of a personal-injury firm signals that a civil claim may follow.

A pattern of security failures in the capital

Del Real's shooting does not exist in isolation. The string of violent incidents near the White House and other protected sites in Washington has raised pointed questions about whether the Secret Service is adequately managing threats in the areas surrounding the president.

Just The News noted that Del Real was injured at the Pennsylvania Avenue and 17th Street checkpoint near the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, one of the most heavily secured corridors in the country.

Sen. Marsha Blackburn has already called for a full audit of the agency. Her demand followed a separate armed breach at the White House Correspondents' Dinner, an incident that itself raised serious questions about the agency's screening and perimeter protocols.

And the security concerns extend beyond ground-level threats. Federal authorities have also had to respond to restricted airspace violations over Washington that required military intercepts, a reminder that the capital's protective infrastructure is being tested from multiple directions simultaneously.

What the public still doesn't know

Three weeks out, the list of unanswered questions is long. How many rounds did Best fire? How many did the Secret Service fire? Which officers discharged their weapons? Has any administrative action been taken? What type of firearm did Best carry? What was his motive, if any was established? And, most critically for Del Real and his family: whose bullet struck him?

The Secret Service's initial statement, that it was "unclear" whether the bystander was hit by the suspect or during the exchange, has not been updated publicly. If News4's sources are correct that investigators have already determined Del Real was hit by Secret Service fire, the agency's continued silence looks less like caution and more like evasion.

Crowds of tourists are expected in Washington this summer for the America 250 celebrations. Families will walk the same sidewalks where Del Real was shot. They deserve to know whether the Secret Service has examined its own use-of-force protocols in the wake of three shootings in thirty days, and whether anything has changed.

Benjamin Del Real put on a uniform to serve his country. He went to Washington to see the landmarks that uniform is meant to protect. He left on a stretcher. The least the agencies involved owe him, and the public, is a straight answer about what happened.