Suspect says he wanted to target Trump officials – CBS
The BBC’s US partner, CBS News, reports that the alleged gunman has told authorities he was targeting officials linked to US President Donald Trump.
Citing two unnamed sources, CBS also says that at least five to eight gunshots were fired during the incident.
In pictures: heavy police presence in California neighbourhood
Image source,Reuters
Image source,Reuters
Image source,ReutersShare- FBI and police searching California home
We’re now seeing live pictures of FBI agents and police officers searching an address believed to be linked to the alleged gunman.
The footage – filmed from a helicopter – shows a heavy police presence in the neighbourhood of Torrance, California.
What’s the White House Correspondents’ Dinner?
The White House Correspondents’ Dinner has become a “be and be seen” event over the years, attracting top government officials and celebrities.
Beyond the dinner itself, the whole week sees Washington buzzing with parties hosted by embassies, organisations and media outlets.
But at its heart, the dinner is about raising money for promising young journalism students from across the country, who receive financial assistance from the White House Correspondents’ Association.
Each student is paired with a mentor who is an association member and an active reporter at the White House. They all receive invitations to the dinner.
This year, for the second time, I was a mentor to one of the students, a bright and cheerful young woman.
She told me that she and the other students were frazzled, but safe.
They never expected the dinner would end so abruptly in a shooting incident.
Gunshots fired at White House correspondents’ dinner – a recap
Gunshots were fired at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner in Washington DC on Saturday night. The suspect was arrested. An officer was shot at close range, but his bullet-proof vest saved him.
Here’s a recap of what happened:
- The annual event was held at the Washington Hilton hotel, with Trump attending for the first time as president
- First Lady Melania Trump, Vice-President JD Vance and hundreds journalists, media personalities and government officials were also there
- A suspected gunman ran into the hotel foyer, trying to get past security officers and metal detectors, at about 00:35 GMT
- Loud bangs were heard, prompting security service personnel to immediately escort the president and other officials from the venue
- Hundreds of guests stayed behind for about an hour before the ballroom was cleared
- Trump shared images and a video of the suspect on social media
- Cole Tomas Allen, 31, is reportedly the suspect
- Allen is expected to be charged on Monday with several offences, including using a firearm during a crime of violence
- Trump told reporters afterwards, “I can’t imagine any professions that are more dangerous” when reflecting on several shooting attempts over the past three years
What it was like in the ballroom
I had just put my knife and fork down, and almost didn’t notice the booming sounds coming from somewhere in front of me in the direction of the main entrance to the ballroom at the Washington Hilton.
I did a kind of audio double take.
Within moments, I thought – that is the low thudding sound that semi-automatic weapons make.
As someone who is blind I focus on the sounds, and I heard the shattering of glass.
Then I felt the head of my colleague, Daniel, who I had just been speaking to, brush past and I realised he was diving for the floor.
So I followed him.
I was on my knees, under the table cloth, almost certain that here I was, another Saturday night, another presidential event, and in the midst of yet another shooting.
I was there in Butler, Pennsylvania in July 2024 when the president came within inches of losing his life.
The moments after that were filled with screaming and running people.
This time was different as within seconds, we were under the table.
Another colleague told me how, as the shots rang out, he saw dozens of people running into the ballroom from the corridor outside.
British Ambassador thanks Secret Service
Christian Turner, the British ambassador to the United States, has just posted a “thank you” message for the US Secret Service.
Turner was at the event, as were other British embassy staffers.
“The @UKinUSA team attending tonight’s White House Correspondents Dinner are grateful for the swift and professional response of the Secret Service,” Turner wrote.
“We are thankful that the President and those in attendance were unharmed & our best wishes are with the injured officer,” he added.
As we’ve reported, the guest list included numerous politicians, diplomats, celebrities and other prominent figures.
More lawmakers express gratitude and relief that no one was hurt
In social media posts, dozens of Congress members from both sides of the aisle are sharing their gratitude that the president and First Lady are safe, thanking Secret Service members for their quick action, and condemning the violence.
“Thankful for the swift law enforcement action to protect everyone from gunfire at the White House Correspondents Dinner,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries writes, adding, “The violence and chaos in America must end”.
House Speaker Mike Johnson says he and his wife were present at the dinner, and they’re thankful no innocent people were harmed.
“We’re grateful as always for the law enforcement and first responders who acted so quickly to bring the situation under control,” Johnson says. “Praying for our country tonight.”
Photos from inside the now-cancelled White House correspondents dinner
- Here’s what the event looked like before we were evacuated after gunshots were heard.
Image source,Indrani Basu / BBC News
Image source,Indrani Basu / BBC News
Image source,Indrani Basu / BBC NewsShare - Trump thanks White House Correspondents Associatio
- Minard
BBC News, reporting from the White HouseWhile he was speaking to reporters in the White House briefing room a bit ago, President Trump directed a personal thank you to Weijia Jiang – who was sitting in the front row asking questions and is president of the White House Correspondents Association, which puts on this event every year.The hundred or so press in the room gave a quick round of applause. Mr Trump then joked she was going to give a “killer question”.
Image source,Getty ImagesShare
Today’s shooting at same location as 1981 attempt on Reagan’s lifepublished at 05:5105:51
Today’s shooting incident took place at the Washington Hilton on Connecticut Avenue – the same hotel in which Ronald Reagan was shot and wounded in 1981.
That shooting took place on 30 March 1981, when the culprit, John Hinckley Jr, shot at Reagan as he was returning to his limousine after a speaking engagement inside the hotel.
Reagan survived, but was seriously wounded by a bullet that ricocheted off the side of a presidential limousine and hit him in the torso, breaking a rib and puncturing one of his lungs. He was rushed to the nearby George Washington University Hospital, and was eventually released on 11 April.
The then-White House Press Secretary, James Brady, was wounded in the same incident, as was a Secret Service agent and a local Metropolitan Police Department officer.
Brady suffered brain damage during he incident and was left disabled for the rest of his life. His injuries plagued him for the rest of his life and contributed to his death in 2014.
The following year, Hinckley was found not guilty by reason of insanity, but was confined to a high-security portion of Washington’s St Elizabeth’s Hospital until being discharged in 2016.
A plaque still marks the scene of the shooting on the side of the hotel.
Can’t imagine ‘any profession that’s more dangerous’, Trump says of his job
This is the third shooting or attempted shooting that has taken place around Donald Trump in just the last few years. It’s become something of a pattern.
I was also in Butler, Pennsylvania on 13 July 2024 when 20-year-old Thomas Crooks shot at Trump, and the feeling in Washington is very similar to what I experienced that day.
Despite having just experienced another shooting, Trump seems in a buoyant mood.
But the prospect of being in a position in which he could be in danger appears to be something that Donald Trump has thought about, repeatedly.
“I can’t imagine there’s any profession that’s more dangerous,” Trump said in the briefing room.
Trump, and many close to him, have previously said that the shooting in Butler, perhaps more than anything else, marked a pivotal moment for the US president.
Even with a lack of clarity on what led to the shooting, tonight’s events will almost certainly mark another one.
President Trump’s comments that the job is inherently dangerous are apt. Tonight’s incident took place inside the same hotel in which President Ronald Reagan was shot in 1981.
No country is immune from political violence, says Trump
The local law enforcement briefing has now wrapped up.
We will bring you a few more details from President Trump’s conference with reporters at the White House this evening.
Trump was asked what his message to the world was following the suspected shooting.
“You can have the greatest security in the world but if you’ve got a whack job whose brain is distorted, they can make trouble,” he replied.
When asked “if it’s possible to turn the temperature down” following this evening’s incident.
“Probably, if I decided to just not do much and if I let everybody rip us off,” he said.
The president says it is the cost of doing business to participate in politics in America.
He adds that there is political violence all over the world.
“I can’t imagine that there’s any profession that’s more dangerous,” he says, adding “no country is immune”.
Can the WH correspondents dinner go ahead again?
President Trump has insisted the White House Correspondents Association (WHCA) event will go ahead within 30 days and that the alleged shooting would not disrupt regular planned events.
Guests had finished their first course when the gunshots could be heard outside the Washington Hilton ball room.
When asked how the event could return after the disruption, the US security service director Sean Curran told reporters “we do this every day” when assessing security threats at events attended by the president and cabinet members.
Security officer in hospital after stopping the alleged gunman
Authorities have confirmed that one of the shots fired hit a uniformed officer who was wearing body armour.
The US secret service agent is in hospital and receiving treatment for his injuries.
The alleged gunman, a 31-year-old man from California, is also being examined in a local hospital.
Authorities checking videos to see how the suspect got so close
Carroll is asked how the suspect got so far into the venue with a high-caliber weapon.
Carroll says the investigation will go through video footage from across the hotel to determine how the gun got in.
“At this point, we don’t have that level of detail,” he says
Suspect was a hotel guest, DC police chief says
The supect has been identified as Cole Tomas Allen, 31, of Torrance, California, US media report.
Washington DC’s police chief Jeffery W Carroll says he was a hotel guest where the event was taking place and his room has been secured as part of the investigation.
He is asked if there are any security changes to related events around the US capital that typically follow the White House Correspondents Dinner. He says there is no reason to believe anyone else is in danger but there are extra officers out and about tonight for events such as after-parties.
Suspect’s motive remains unknown, say police
Jeffery Carroll, the Interim Chief of the Metropolitan Police Department, is asked what the suspect’s motivation was, and he answers that that is not yet known.
He says the fact that shots were fired does not mean this was a security failure.
The checkpoint, where the suspect was apprehended, was there for a reason and it worked, Carroll says.
The suspect was not previously known to the MPD, he adds.
Suspect will be formally charged in court on Monday, say officials
We have some more information about the suspect from local authorities.
Jeanine Pirro, US attorney for Washington, says the suspect is facing two counts for using firearm during crime of violence and assault on federal officers using dangerous weapon.
She says the suspect will be arraigned before a federal court on Monday.
Alleged gunman was 31-year-old California man
A few details are emerging about the alleged armed suspect, who was seen running towards the ballroom at the Washington Hilton before officers stopped him.
The BBC’s US partner, CBS News, reports that the suspect is believed to be a 31-year-old man from Torrence, based in Los Angeles’ south-western suburbs in California.
Washington DC mayor said the suspect was receiving treatment in a nearby hospital and remains in police custody.
Todd Blanche, Trump’s Attorney General, said that he would be charged “very soon”.
SOURCE: BBC NEWS
