Shortly after 8:40 p.m. on Saturday evening, April 25, gunshots rang out at the Washington Hilton hotel, where President Donald Trump and members of his Cabinet were attending the annual White House Correspondents’ Association dinner. The President was hustled off the stage by Secret Service agents; First Lady Melania Trump, Vice President JD Vance, several cabinet members, and the Speaker of the House were rushed from the ballroom. Some 2,600 attendees took cover under their tables. One Secret Service officer was shot, but has already been released from the hospital. An hour after the shooting, Trump returned to the White House and gave a press briefing. There were no other injuries reported.
The suspect, identified by law enforcement officials[(https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/shooting-suspect-white-house-correspondents-dinner-cole-thomas-allen-rcna342146) as 31-year-old Cole Tomas Allen of Torrance, California, had been staying at the Hilton as a hotel guest. According to D.C. police, Allen charged the magnetometer screening area armed with a shotgun, a handgun, and multiple knives, and exchanged gunfire with security personnel before being tackled to the ground. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche told CNN that Allen “appeared to be targeting Trump administration officials.” He has been charged with two counts of using a firearm during a crime of violence and one count of assault on an officer using a dangerous weapon, and will be arraigned Monday.
Allen’s [profile does not fit typical templates. He got a B.S. in mechanical engineering from Caltech in 2017 and an M.S. in computer science in 2025, according to his LinkedIn profile. He worked briefly as a mechanical engineer at an instrumentation and controls firm in South Pasadena. He is an independent video game developer whose self-published non-violent fighting-style game “Bohrdom” is a reference to the atomic physicist Niels Bohr. He has tutored part-time tutor at C2 Education since 2019, and was named “Teacher of the Month” of its Torrance office in December 2024. He is registered to vote with “no party preference,” and federal campaign finance records show a $25 donation in 2024 to a Democratic political action committee supporting Kamala Harris.