White House Correspondents’ Dinner shooting suspect Cole Tomas Allen, 31, currently faces charges of two counts of using a firearm during a crime of violence and one count of assault on an officer using a dangerous weapon after breaching security at the Washington Hilton. Donald Trump and other government officials were evacuated from the Washington Hilton during the White House Correspondents’ Dinner after gunshots broke out.
Allen shot a law enforcement agent who was not seriously injured, Newsweek reported.
However, Jeanine Pirro, US attorney for Washington, said that Allen would be formally charged on Monday in federal court, according to the BBC.
The shooting
A video shows Trump in the middle of a conversation at the Washington Hilton when he was interrupted by a commotion at the White House table. Loud bangs can be heard in the background. Several Secret Service members then escorted Trump away from the venue as they called out “stay down, stay down”.
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Stephen Miller, Trump’s top adviser, was also seen being escorted from the crowd and out of the venue. Senior administration officials like Pete Hegseth were also escorted out by their security details. FBI Director Kash Patel was evacuated from the room after about five gunshots were heard, according to the BBC.
Several attendees were seen crouching down during the chaos, but remained inside after the president was evacuated.
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In an interview with NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday, April 26, acting US Attorney General Todd Blanche said that Allen’s motive was still under investigation, but that “preliminary” findings suggested he was targeting administration officials, “likely” including Trump. Blanche added investigators were now looking at reports that Allen had assembled the weapon in the hotel, stressing that he “didn’t get very far”.
“He barely broke the perimeter,” Blanche said, adding that Allen may have traveled by train from Los Angeles to Chicago, and then to Washington DC.
