Gunman identified at the Correspondent’s dinner

At approximately 8:35 p.m. on Saturday, shots rang out at the Washington Hilton hotel in Washington, D.C. A gunman had charged through a security checkpoint in the foyer, pushing past metal detectors toward the area just outside the ballroom where the White House Correspondents’ Dinner was underway. Secret Service agents moved immediately, pulling President Donald Trump, First Lady Melania Trump, and senior cabinet members out of the room as guests dropped to the floor and took cover beneath tables.

One Secret Service agent was struck by at least one round. He was wearing a bulletproof vest and was treated and released from the hospital. No other attendees were seriously injured. The suspected gunman was apprehended at the scene without being shot. He was taken to a hospital for evaluation before being transferred to a Metropolitan Police Department facility in northwest Washington, D.C.

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said Sunday that preliminary findings suggest the suspect was targeting members of the Trump administration, and that the president himself was a likely target.

The gunman identified

Law enforcement identified the gunman as Cole Tomas Allen, 31, from Torrance, California. He had been a guest at the hotel, checking in on Friday, the day before the attack. He traveled from Los Angeles to Chicago by train and then continued to Washington, D.C.

Allen came to the hotel armed with a 12-gauge shotgun, purchased legally in August 2025, and a .38-caliber semi-automatic pistol, purchased legally in October 2023. He also carried multiple knives. Investigators say he trained regularly at a shooting range in the period leading up to the attack.

Allen earned a mechanical engineering degree from the California Institute of Technology in 2017 and completed a master’s degree in computer science at California State University, Dominguez Hills in 2025. He worked part-time as a tutor at C2 Education in Torrance, where he received a Teacher of the Month recognition in December 2024. He also identified as an independent video game developer on his LinkedIn profile.

What he sent before the attack

Before charging the checkpoint, Allen the gunman sent written materials to members of his family. The writings, which authorities describe as a manifesto, opened with an apology to people whose trust he felt he had broken, while making clear he did not expect to be forgiven. The note expressed anger toward the Trump administration, referenced conditions in detention facilities, and described the president in hostile terms.

Allen wrote that he did not intend to specifically target law enforcement but acknowledged he would move through most people present to reach his intended targets if he felt it necessary. He also attempted to frame his actions within a Christian moral argument, writing that staying silent in the face of what he saw as oppression was not consistent with Christian values.

One of his brothers, after receiving the message, contacted the New London Police Department in Connecticut to raise concern. Other family members also reached out to law enforcement agencies. The writings sent to family did not name the correspondents’ dinner as the specific target.

The gunman’s path toward radicalization

Allen’s sister told investigators that her brother had been making increasingly radical statements over a period of time and had become involved in left-wing political activism in Los Angeles. He joined a group called The Wide Awakes, a leftist organization whose name references anti-slavery activists from the 1860s. He also attended a No Kings protest in California. Federal records show he donated $25 to a Democratic political action committee in support of Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign in October 2024.

Family members described him as someone who frequently referenced a plan to do something about what he saw as the problems facing the country. Earlier in his life, the gunman had participated in a Christian Fellowship organization at Caltech and was featured in a local news report in 2017 for developing an emergency brake prototype for wheelchairs.

The charges and investigation

U.S. Attorney for D.C. Jeanine Pirro announced Allen, the gunman faces one count of using a firearm during a crime of violence and one count of assault on a federal officer using a dangerous weapon. Additional charges are expected as investigators continue reviewing his writings, social media history, and electronic devices, for which search warrants are being sought. Allen is not cooperating with authorities. He was scheduled to be arraigned in federal court on Monday.

The FBI is leading the criminal investigation while the Secret Service examines the security response and Allen’s background. Agents assembled outside his family home in Torrance on Saturday night. D.C. interim police chief Jeff Carroll said Allen appears to have acted alone.