A man suspected of being the gunman responsible for the incident that led to the swift evacuation of Donald Trump from a White House correspondents’ dinner had apparently gained entry as a guest.
Pandemonium erupted at the annual dinner held at the Washington Hilton Hotel ballroom when gunshots rang out. The attendees included the US President, First Lady Melania Trump, Vice President JD Vance, various other politicians, and hundreds of journalists among the 2,500 people present that evening.
Officials identified the suspect as 31-year-old Cole Tomas Allen from Torrance, California, located near Los Angeles. Law enforcement reported that the suspect carried multiple weapons, including a shotgun, handgun, and knives.
The suspect breached a security checkpoint at the hotel and fired at a close-range Secret Service agent, who was protected by a bulletproof vest.
Authorities stated that the suspect had not been previously flagged by law enforcement and had no criminal history.
It was revealed by officials that the armed individual had been a guest at the Washington Hilton Hotel during the dinner event.
Jeffrey Carroll, the interim chief of police for the Metropolitan Police Department, mentioned, “We do believe he was a guest here at the hotel. We have secured a room here in the hotel, and again, we’ll go through the appropriate procedures to determine what was inside there.”
The individual reportedly charged towards the ballroom before the gun violence erupted. He was subdued by others and sustained no injuries but was undergoing evaluation at a hospital, according to the police.
A photo shared by Donald Trump showed the detained alleged gunman in police custody.
During a press conference following the incident, the President indicated that the suspect appeared to be acting alone and referred to him as a “lone wolf whack job.”
The suspected gunman had a profession as a teacher and was also involved in video game development in California.
A LinkedIn profile matching the name Cole Tomas Allen described him as a part-time teacher at a test prep and tutoring company called C2 Education. Social media posts indicated that he was recognized as “teacher of the month” by the company in December 2024.
Allen also identified himself as a video game developer on his LinkedIn profile and mentioned ongoing work on a second game titled “First Law.”
He had previously released a game named Bohrdom and had registered a trademark for the title back in 2018.
Graduating from the California Institute of