Washington. A gunman who reportedly fired multiple shots near a building where US President Donald Trump hosted an annual dinner of the White House correspondents on Saturday evening has been arrested.

He is believed to have made it past the outermost layer of security at the event at which Trump was scheduled to speak because he was a guest of the hotel, officials said.

The shooting suspect was identified as Cole Tomas Allen, 31, of Torrance, California, two law enforcement officials told the AP. Officials told reporters after the incident that Allen was armed with a shotgun, a handgun and multiple knives.

Security for the annual event is always tight when the president attends, especially given the venue’s history -- 45 years ago, the Washington Hilton was the site of an attempted assassination of President Ronald Reagan -- and law enforcement argued that their “multi-layered protection” worked as designed.

Still, the incident was sure to set off more questions about security around the president and political events in the wake of high-profile acts of political violence in recent years.

Authorities said the incident occurred outside the ballroom where Trump and other guests were seated. It was not immediately clear what happened. The event was scrapped and will be rescheduled.

Secret Service agents, including the heavily-armed counter assault team, swarmed the stage after the incident. Vice President JD Vance was removed from the room first, while agents initially covered Trump in place, before escorting him and first lady Melania Trump from the room.

Trump briefly stumbled on his way offstage before being assisted by his security detail.

He was held for some time in the secure presidential suite at the hotel as the president and organizers initially sought to resume the event -- hotel staff refolded napkins and refilled water glasses, and aides adjusted the teleprompter for the president -- before Trump was returned to the White House on the advice of the Secret Service.

Game Developer
Social media posts that appear to match the suspect show he is a highly educated tutor and amateur video game developer.

A May 2025 profile photo of Cole Tomas Allen of Torrance, California, appears to match the appearance of the man in a photo of the alleged attacker being taken into custody that was posted Saturday night by President Donald Trump. The photo, posted to the social networking site LinkedIn, shows him in a cap and gown after graduating with a master’s degree in computer science from California State University-Dominguez Hills.

Allen, 31, earned a bachelor’s degree in 2017 in mechanical engineering from the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. He listed his involvement there in a Christian student fellowship and a campus group that battled with Nerf guns.

A local ABC station in Los Angeles included an interview with Allen during his senior year of college as part of a story about new technologies to help people as they age. He had developed a prototype for a new type of emergency brake for wheelchairs.

According to his online resume, Allen's has worked for the last six years at C2 Education, a company that offers admissions counseling and test preparation services to aspiring college students. A 2024 post on the company’s Facebook page listed Allen as the company’s teacher of the month. The company did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment Saturday night.

Allen also posted that he had developed a video game for the Steam platform based on molecular chemistry. A post under Allen’s name said he was working to develop a new “top-down shooter” combat game set in outer space

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