By Harold Hutchison
President Donald Trump and other senior administration officials were evacuated from the White House Correspondents’ Dinner Saturday night after shots were fired by a California teacher.
There was several loud bangs and the Secret Service with guns drawn rushed the press pool out of the room. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was seen limping after the incident.
Trump and First Lady Melania Trump had been talking with mentalist Oz Pearlman, who was slated to host the event, when four shots were heard. Attendees at the event reported Secret Service agents rushed in.
“Quite an evening in D.C. Secret Service and Law Enforcement did a fantastic job. They acted quickly and bravely. The shooter has been apprehended, and I have recommended that we ‘LET THE SHOW GO ON’ but, will entirely be guided by Law Enforcement,” Trump posted on Truth Social. “They will make a decision shortly. Regardless of that decision, the evening will be much different than planned, and we’ll just, plain, have to do it again.”
Trump, who survived two assassination attempts in the 2024 campaign, was evacuated as the ballroom became “chaos.”
The alleged shooter is in custody. He is a California teacher — Cole Allen, from Torrance, California. He attacked the event while President Donald Trump and other senior U.S. officials were in attendance. On-scene footage posted to social media showed guests crouching to the floor or running after four shots were heard, with law enforcement surveying the area with guns. Officials apprehended the suspect alive, Trump and the FBI said on social media.
Allen was praised as “Teacher of the Month” by C2 Education of Torrance in a December 2024 Facebook post from the tutoring school. His LinkedIn profile lists him as a part-time teacher with C2 and an independent video game developer.
The suspect also made a $25 donation to former Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris’ 2024 presidential campaign, Federal Election Commission records show.
Trump posted pictures on Truth Social of the suspect pinned face-down on the hotel’s floor, shirtless and restrained by law enforcement agents. Blurry video footage posted by the president showed a figure racing past agents on foot in a hallway of the Washington Hilton hotel, where the annual dinner was hosted. Allen was armed with multiple weapons, Trump said at a Saturday night press conference alongside FBI Director Kash Patel.
“We will be examining this individual’s background thoroughly,” Patel said. “That process has already started.”
U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro announced charges against the gunman who opened fire at Saturday night’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner in an apparent assassination attempt against President Donald Trump.
Authorities arrested the suspect, 31-year-old Cole Allen of Torrance, California, after Trump, his wife Melania and Cabinet members present were evacuated following gunfire. Pirro told reporters the would-be assassin is “charged with two counts,” “using a firearm during a crime of violence” and “assault on a federal officer using a dangerous weapon.” (RELATED: Journalists Laugh At Mention Trump Could Speak After Assassination Attempt)
“Now, as you all know, there was an individual, a uniformed Secret Service officer, who was shot, and fortunately, he is doing alright and he will be fine,” Pirro added.
She added that based on the available evidence, it is clear that the suspect “was intent on doing as much harm and as much damage as he could.”
“And thankfully, because of the checkpoint right outside the ballroom where thousands of people were situated to hear the President of the United States — because that checkpoint worked, there was no one who was injured when it was clear where this defendant was going, Pirro continued.
The U.S. Attorney and former Fox News host was, like several other Trump administration members, in attendance for the dinner which the president was slated to address for the first times during either of his White House terms.
“I, for the first time, was in a situation where there were shots fired, shots heard, and a whole room went silent. When I lifted my head and when I looked up, every law enforcement officer was out there as we all had our heads down,” Pirro said. “Thousands of them. These are the men and women every day who do what they do silently, and they do it with courage and with dignity.”
