ITV News US Correspondent Dan Rivers reports from Washington DC
President Donald Trump and other top White House officials were evacuated from an annual dinner of the White House Correspondents’ Association after a man armed with guns and knives stormed the lobby and opened fire.
The president was unharmed.
The shooting suspect was taken into custody and identified as Cole Tomas Allen, 31, from Torrance, California, law enforcement officials said.
The suspect worked as a teacher and a video game developer, according to reports by ITV News’ US partner CNN.
Trump described the man as “a lone wolf whack job” in a post on Truth Social, where he also posted a picture of the alleged assailant.
He is understood to have been a guest in the Washington Hilton hotel where the event was being held and faces charges including assaulting an officer with a dangerous weapon, but acting attorney general Todd Blanche said additional charges will be filed.
One officer, who was shot but protected by his bulletproof vest, was taken to hospital.
A motive was not immediately known, and acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said charges related to Saturday night’s attack will be filed shortly.
The president praised the secret service and said the gunman was not close to breaching the ballroom where he sat on stage at the time of the incident.
Washington mayor Muriel Bowser said she had “no reason” to believe anyone else was involved.
Trump added: “I saw a room that was just totally unified. It was, in one way, very beautiful, a very beautiful thing.
“To see a man charge a security checkpoint armed with multiple weapons, and he was taken down by some very brave members of secret service, and they acted very quickly.”
Trump has vowed to reschedule the disrupted event at a late-night press conference following the shooting.
He was attending the annual dinner for the first time as president.
It was the third time since 2024 that the president had been under threat by an attacker in his immediate vicinity, including the assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania, that injured him and killed a local firefighter.
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