A man suspected of being the gunman responsible for an incident that led to the quick evacuation of Donald Trump from a White House correspondents’ dinner reportedly entered the event as a guest. The chaotic scene unfolded during the annual dinner at the Washington Hilton Hotel ballroom when gunshots rang out. Among the 2,500 attendees were the US President, First Lady Melania Trump, Vice President JD Vance, various politicians, and hundreds of journalists.
Officials identified the suspect as Cole Thomas Allen, a 31-year-old individual from Torrance, California, located near Los Angeles. Armed with multiple weapons, including a shotgun, handgun, and knives, the suspect breached a security checkpoint at the hotel and fired at a Secret Service agent from close range, who was fortunately protected by a bullet-proof vest.
Law enforcement confirmed that the suspect was not previously known to authorities and had no criminal record. It was revealed that the armed man had been a guest at the Washington Hilton Hotel where the dinner was taking place.
During a press briefing, Jeffrey Carroll, the interim chief of police for the Metropolitan Police Department, stated that they believed the suspect had been staying at the hotel. The man reportedly rushed into the ballroom before the shooting occurred. Despite being tackled to the ground, the gunman sustained no injuries and was undergoing evaluation at a hospital.
In a subsequent press conference, Donald Trump characterized the suspect as a “lone wolf whack job” and indicated that he appeared to have acted alone. The suspected gunman was employed as a teacher and also worked as a video game developer 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, where he was recognized as “teacher of the month” in December 2024. Additionally, he identified himself as a video game developer, mentioning an ongoing project named ‘First Law’ and a previously released game called Bohrdom, for which he had obtained a trademark in 2018.
Cole Allen graduated from the California Institute of Technology in 2017 with a degree in mechanical engineering before pursuing a master’s degree in computer science from California State University-Dominguez Hills. News reports from 2017 featured him as a Caltech student for his work on a prototype emergency brake for wheelchairs. University records confirmed that a person named Cole Allen had indeed completed an undergraduate degree in 2017.