&imwidth=800&imheight=600&format=webp&quality=medium "Trump Dinner Shooting Highlights: Alleged gunman had ‘hatred in his heart’, is strongly ‘anti-Christian’: Trump")
Trump Dinner Shooting Highlights: A gunman opened fire while attempting to force his way into the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner on Saturday evening, prompting the United States Secret Service to swiftly escort President Donald Trump and members of his cabinet off the stage.
According to witnesses, hundreds of guests dived under tables for cover as shots were heard, with someone shouting, “Get down!”
The suspect was identified as Cole Tomas Allen, 31, from Torrance, California, two law enforcement officials told The Associated Press. The Federal Bureau of Investigation confirmed that the individual had been taken into custody.
Leaders across the world reacted strongly to the incident. India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, and Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney condemned the attack on social media, describing it as an act of political violence.
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Replying to a query about the alleged gunman’s motive, President Donald Trump said the suspect appears to have had “hatred in his heart for a while” and it was a “religious thing”, “strongly anti-Christian”.
Trump added that he didn’t know quite how dangerous his job was when he ran for president.
“If you’re a consequential president you’re in much more danger than if you’re not a consequential president,” he said.
A senior law enforcement official said the suspect Cole Tomas Allen’s guns were purchased legally. Authorities said publicly that Allen had a rifle and a handgun on him when they took him into custody.
Records show that Allen purchased a Maverick 12-gauge shotgun in August 2025 and had purchased an Armscor Precision .38 semi-automatic pistol in October 2023.
Those two weapons were recovered from Allen last night. Officials also said that he had multiple knives.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche has said that the motive of the person suspected of carrying out the shooting at the White House Correspondents' Dinner is still under investigation. Blanche told NBC News' "Meet the Press" that preliminary findings suggest he was targeting administration officials.
"We're still investigating a motive, and that's something that will necessarily take a couple of days at least," he said. "We believe he was targeting administration officials in this attack, attempted attack, but that's again, quite preliminary."
Those officials "likely" include the President, Blanche added, "but I want to wait and not get ahead of us on that."
He further said that investigators were looking into reports that the suspect had assembled the weapon somewhere in the hotel, but that he "didn't get very far." "He barely broke the perimeter," he said. “And by barely, I mean by a few feet.”
Buckingham Palace said on Sunday that discussions will be taking place with US colleagues to determine whether the Washington shooting will impact planning for the King’s upcoming state visit.
The King is “being kept fully informed of developments and is greatly relieved to hear that the President, First Lady and all guests have been unharmed,” it added.
George K. Chen, the Mayor of Torrance, California, said the actions of one individual do not define our city, which will “continue working closely with our public safety partners” after reports that the shooting suspect, Cole Thomas Allen, is a resident.
The FBI and Secret Service are at a home believed to be associated with Cole Thomas Allen in Torrance, a city of around 140,000 residents in California’s South Bay, about 15 miles southwest of downtown Los Angeles.
“We are aware of reports identifying the suspect as a resident of Torrance,” said Mayor George K. Chen, adding, “While that connection is deeply troubling, one individual’s actions do not define our city.”
Chen said the city stands firmly against “political violence, extremism, and acts of hatred in any form.”
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni expressed her solidarity with Trump after White House shooting. She wrote on X, “I wish to express my full solidarity and most sincere closeness to President Trump, to First Lady Melania, to Vice President Vance, and to all those present for what happened at last night’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner.”
“No political hatred can find space in our democracies. We will not allow fanaticism to poison the places of free debate and information. The defense of the culture of confrontation must remain the insurmountable bulwark against every intolerant drift, to safeguard the values that found our Nations,” she added.
Officials said the suspect in the Washington, D.C. shooting had no prior criminal record, and he was not on the radar of law enforcement, NBC News reported. According to authorities, the man graduated from the California Institute of Technology and initially worked as a mechanical engineer before moving into independent video game development. He later took up a part-time teaching role at a tutoring company that helps high school students prepare for college, details that were reflected on his LinkedIn profile.
- Authorities have said the attacker is believed to have acted alone and may have been staying at the Washington Hilton, the venue for the dinner. Interim police chief Jeffrey Carroll said investigators have secured the suspect’s hotel room and are examining its contents as part of the ongoing inquiry.
- A US Secret Service officer who was shot during the incident has since been discharged from the hospital. A spokesperson for the agency said the officer’s ballistic vest “helped us avoid a potential tragedy”.
- Officials added that the suspect was not hit by gunfire and was taken to the hospital for evaluation following the attack. According to public records and materials reviewed by CNN, the suspect had worked as a teacher and video game developer in southern California and studied engineering at the California Institute of Technology.
- President Donald Trump said his security team had not been aware of any specific threats before Saturday’s dinner.
- CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer, who was outside the ballroom at the time, described seeing the gunman “clearly on the ground shooting” just steps away from him. He said a police officer pushed him to the ground to protect him as shots were fired.
- The attack has drawn widespread condemnation from US lawmakers and international leaders, many of whom expressed relief that the president was unharmed and praised the swift response by law enforcement.
FBI secured the alleged home of the suspect in the WHCD shooting; a search warrant is pending, FOX News reported. A federal judge in the Central District of California is expected to sign a search warrant, the US Attorney’s Office told Fox News.
A US Secret Service officer who was shot Saturday evening at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner has been released from the hospital, according to USSS Chief of Communications Anthony Guglielmi.
Erika Kirk was seen being escorted from the White House Correspondents' Dinner in tears after gunfire caused panic and evacuation. The incident evoked sympathy due to her husband Charlie Kirk's death last year. The dinner was disrupted by a shooting near the security screening area, leading to a lockdown and the arrest of a suspect.
Social media posts that appear to match the California man arrested Saturday (April 15) in the shooting at the White House correspondents' dinner show that he is a highly educated tutor and amateur video game developer.
The suspected gunman at Saturday night’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner “attempted to create a national tragedy,” US Secret Service Deputy Director Matthew Quinn said in a statement.
Dan Scavino, Trump’s deputy chief of staff, said Saturday’s attack brings back “a lot of terrible memories” of the attempted assassination against the president during a 2024 campaign rally in Pennsylvania.
