The suspected shooter at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner has been identified.
Chaos erupted when a ‘lone wolf’ opened fire at the annual Washington, D.C., on Saturday (April 25).
Donald Trump and Melania Trump were quickly rushed out of the Washington Hilton’s ballroom as the shooter opened fire.
The shooting suspect was identified as Cole Tomas Allen, 31, of Torrance, California. Officials told reporters after the incident that Allen was armed with a shotgun, a handgun and multiple knives.
He is understood to have been a guest in the Washington Hilton hotel where the event was being held and faces charges including assaulting an officer with a dangerous weapon, but acting attorney general Todd Blanche said additional charges will be filed.
He reportedly ran into the hotel foyer, trying to get past security officers and metal detectors, at about 12.25am GMT.
Loud bangs could be heard, prompting the Secret Service to rush in and escort the President and First Lady Melania Trump out of the ballroom as they called out “stay down, stay down”.
In a post on his Truth Social account, Mr Trump said: “Quite an evening in D.C. Secret Service and Law Enforcement did a fantastic job. They acted quickly and bravely. The shooter has been apprehended, and I have recommended that we ‘LET THE SHOW GO ON’ but, will entirely be guided by Law Enforcement. They will make a decision shortly. Regardless of that decision, the evening will be much different than planned, and we’ll just, plain, have to do it again.”
A second post followed shortly after, which read: ” Law Enforcement has requested that we leave the premises, consistent with protocol, which we will do, immediately. I will be giving a press conference in 30 minutes from the White House Press Briefing Room. The First Lady, plus the Vice President, and all Cabinet members, are in perfect condition. We will be speaking to you in a half an hour. I have spoken with all the representatives in charge of the event, and we will be rescheduling within 30 days.”
Mr Trump was attending the annual event for the first time as president. First Lady Melania Trump, Vice-President JD Vance and hundreds of journalists, media personalities, and government officials were also in attendance.
Inside The Shooting
After Evacuation, Trump said a man armed with multiple weapons had charged a security checkpoint and was “taken down” by the Secret Service.
He described the suspect as a “very sick person” and a “thug” who had attacked the US Constitution.
A Secret Service officer was shot in the attack, but he was saved by his bulletproof vest and was “doing great”, Trump said.
“As you know, this is not the first time in the past couple of years that our republic has been attacked by a would-be assassin who sought to kill,” the president said.
“In light of this evening’s events, I ask that all Americans recommit with their hearts in resolving our differences peacefully,” Trump said.
Asked by a reporter if he believed he was the target of the attack, Trump responded: “I guess”.
The Secret Service said the shooting had occurred at a “screening area” and that one individual was in custody.
“The condition of those involved is not yet known, and law enforcement is actively assessing the situation,” the agency said.
Shortly before his news conference, Trump posted images on Truth Social of the suspect face down on the ground, as well as a clip of a surveillance video showing a man running past security personnel, who then drew their guns and opened fire.
Jeanine Ferris Pirro, the US attorney for the District of Columbia, said the suspect would be charged with using a firearm during a crime or violence and assault on federal officers using a dangerous weapon.
FBI director Kash Patel said officers had begun examining the suspect’s background and urged members of the public with any relevant information to come forward.
“No piece of information is too small; no piece of information is inadequate. We will evaluate it all,” Patel said.
Al Jazeera producer Chris Sheridan said he heard what he believed to be five gunshots outside the ballroom.
“We could smell the powder. We immediately dove to the ground. It was directly behind me,” Sheridan said.
“I couldn’t tell how many feet away, but it was definitely behind the doors to the entrance to the ballroom.”
Sheridan said that while there was “airport-level” security around the ballroom itself, anyone with a ticket to the dinner could enter the hotel and descend to the lower level where the ballroom is located.
“You could have gotten down to the lower level, the ballroom level, and been outside,” he said.
Trump has been targeted in multiple assassination attempts, including a near-miss shooting during his 2024 presidential campaign.
Past Attacks
Thomas Crooks fired eight shots at Trump during a campaign event in Butler, Pennsylvania, killing one bystander and wounding the then-candidate’s right ear, before he was shot dead by the Secret Service.
“Today, we need levels of security that probably nobody has ever seen before,” Trump said at Saturday’s news conference, before pledging to reschedule the press dinner.
“We’re not going to cancel things out, because we can’t do that,” Trump said.
“We wanted to stay tonight. I will tell you, I fought like hell to stay… But it was protocol. They said, ‘Please, sir.’”
The shooting incident took place at the Washington Hilton on Connecticut Avenue – the same hotel in which Ronald Reagan was shot and wounded in 1981. On March 30, 1981, the offender, John Hinckley Jr, shot at Mr Reagan as he was returning to his limousine after a speaking engagement inside the hotel.
The 40th president survived, but was seriously wounded by a bullet which ricocheted off the side of a presidential limousine and hit him in the torso, breaking a rib and puncturing one of his lungs.
