Washington. The man accused of trying to storm the ballroom at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner with guns and knives had written about targeting Trump administration officials, and his family raised concerns with law enforcement before the event, President Donald Trump said Sunday in an interview on Fox News Channel.

The accused gunman's family had alerted police in Connecticut, Trump said, revealing new details about a chaotic encounter that disrupted one of Washington’s glitziest annual events the night before.

The suspect, identified by law enforcement officials as 31-year-old Cole Tomas Allen of Torrance, California, was expected to face criminal charges on Monday from the Justice Department, whose acting leader, Todd Blanche, said the suspect traveled by train from California and checked in as a guest days earlier at the Washington hotel where the Saturday night gala dinner was held with its typically tight security.

Law enforcement officials who have interviewed Allen's relatives, examined the gunman’s electronic devices and his writings, preliminarily believe he intended to target administration members in attendance at the dinner. He attempted to charge into the cavernous ballroom at the Washington Hilton but was tackled to the ground in a violent scene that resulted in shots being fired, Trump being hurried off the stage, and guests ducking for cover beneath their tables.

“It does appear that he did in fact set out to target folks who work in the administration, likely including the president,” Blanche told NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

The suspect is believed to have purchased the two firearms he carried within the last couple of years, Blanche said. He is not being cooperative and is expected to face multiple charges on Monday.

A video posted by Trump showed the suspect running past security barricades as Secret Service agents ran toward him. One officer was shot in a bullet-resistant vest but was recovering, officials said. The gunman was taken into custody and was not injured, but was being evaluated at a hospital, police said.

“He failed,” Blanche said on CBS's “Face the Nation.” “Law enforcement did their jobs.”

Authorities believe the suspect fired the shot that hit the Secret Service officer, who is expected to make a full recovery, Blanche said.

“He’s going to be great, he’s going to be fine, and thank God he was wearing a bulletproof vest," Blanche said Sunday on ABC's “This Week.”

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