WASHINGTON, April 27 (Xinhua) -- A gunman armed with a shotgun, handgun and knives stormed a security checkpoint outside the White House Correspondents' Dinner on Saturday, exchanging fire with Secret Service agents and forcing President Donald Trump and dozens of senior officials to evacuate the event.
The suspect, identified by federal authorities as Cole Allen, 31, of Torrance, California, was tackled and subdued at the Washington Hilton, where roughly 2,600 guests had gathered for the annual press gala. No attendees were seriously injured.
Allen faces at least one count each of using a firearm during a crime of violence and assaulting a federal officer using a dangerous weapon, U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro announced Saturday night.
The Department of Justice said Sunday that preliminary findings suggest Trump was the intended target. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said Allen appeared to be a lone gunman who traveled by train from Los Angeles to Washington, and checked into the hotel the day before the event.
A social media account believed to belong to Allen included recent posts critical of Trump and his administration's policies, the U.S. war with Iran and the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
Allen's brother notified the New London Police Department in Connecticut after the incident that the suspect had sent family members an alleged manifesto before the shooting. The document reportedly laid out plans to target administration officials.
His sister separately told investigators that her brother had a tendency to make radical statements and had referenced a plan to fix what he viewed as problems in the world.
DEEP DIVISION
The 2026 dinner was the first such event attended by Trump during his presidency. Throughout his first term, he declined to attend, defying a tradition of sitting presidents dining at least once with the press corps at the annual event.
The event drew senior administration officials, including Vice President JD Vance, FBI Director Kash Patel and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
In a "60 Minutes" interview with CBS the following day, Trump commended law enforcement's quick response but took jabs at the press, accusing members of the press of being "almost one in the same" as the Democratic Party.
He also became defensive when a journalist read an excerpt from the suspect's writings that did not specifically mention him by name: "I am no longer willing to permit a pedophile, rapist and traitor to coat my hands with his crimes." Trump criticized the interviewer as "a disgrace" for reading the passage.
Despite the anger, Trump said he appreciated the spirit of "friendship" between his administration and the media after Saturday's attack, while adding, "I don't know how long it'll last."
Conspiracy theories spread rapidly on social media following the shooting. Many users posted "STAGED" on platforms such as X and Instagram, echoing responses to the 2024 assassination attempt against Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania.
Some claimed the shooting was staged to boost support for Trump's plan to build a new White House ballroom, citing his low approval ratings and decisions related to the ongoing Iran war.
POLITICAL VIOLENCE
Saturday's shooting is the latest episode in a documented surge of politically motivated violence targeting officials across the spectrum.
Trump said he was not sure whether political violence was worsening, telling CBS, "You go back 20 years, 40 years, 100 years, 200 years, 500 years, it's always been there."
However, he placed specific blame on the opposition, singling out Democratic rhetoric as especially perilous. "I do think that the hate speech of the Democrats much more so is very dangerous," he said.
Trump survived an assassination attempt at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania, when a gunman fired eight rounds from a rooftop, wounding him in the upper right ear.
The violence has not been one-sided. On June 14, 2025, Minnesota State Representative Melissa Hortman, a Democrat, was assassinated at her home in Brooklyn Park alongside her husband. State Senator John Hoffman and his wife were also shot and wounded in a separate early-morning attack. ■