Live Updates: Investigators Search for Motive in Shooting at Washington Dinner
“President Trump was unharmed after a gunman, identified as Cole Tomas Allen, opened fire at the White House Correspondents’ dinner. The suspect, who exchanged gunfire with authorities, was apprehended before reaching the ballroom. This marks the third time in three years that President Trump has faced danger from a gunman.
President Trump was unharmed after being rushed from the stage at the White House correspondents’ dinner. A gunman exchanged fire with authorities but did not reach the ballroom, and a suspect was in custody.
Pinned
Investigators were working on Sunday to determine a motive in the shooting that sent Secret Service agents rushing President Trump from the stage at the White House correspondents’ dinner, an attack that raised questions about how a gunman was able to get close to one of Washington’s most heavily guarded events.
The suspect, identified by two law enforcement officials speaking on condition of anonymity as Cole Tomas Allen, 31, of Torrance, Calif., was taken into custody after running through a security checkpoint and exchanging gunfire with the authorities inside the Washington Hilton on Saturday night. Officials said he did not reach the ballroom, where Mr. Trump, top administration officials and hundreds of journalists had gathered.
World leaders condemned political violence after the shooting at the White House correspondents’ dinner on Saturday, the third in three years to unfold close to President Trump.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif of Pakistan said he was “relieved” to know that Mr. Trump and other attendees were safe.
Federal authorities surrounded the Los Angeles-area home of the suspect in the attack at the White House correspondents’ dinner late Saturday, as police vehicles with flashing red and blue lights blocked the street.
It was not clear if the authorities had entered the home, in Torrance, Calif. Shortly after midnight Pacific Time, the agents moved out as a convoy of armored vehicles — with agents wearing F.B.I. insignia hanging off the sides — rolled past a crowd of residents and news media crews.
The White House Correspondents’ Association dinner, held to celebrate press freedom, quickly descended into panic on Saturday evening when a man carrying multiple weapons charged past a security checkpoint at the Washington Hilton and exchanged fire with law enforcement officials before being taken into custody.
President Trump, attending the dinner for the first time in either of his terms, said he heard a loud noise toward the back of the ballroom before a Secret Service agent shouted “Shots fired.” Agents rushed to the president and escorted him and the first lady out.
A gathering of journalists at the Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian American Art Museum came to a halt around 8:45 p.m. Saturday, moments after guests learned of gunfire at the Washington Hilton, where the White House correspondents’ dinner was being held.
The party, hosted by Substack a little more than a mile from the hotel, had been billed as an “alternative” to the annual dinner.
It was 10:31 p.m. on Saturday when President Trump walked into the White House briefing room, still dressed in his tuxedo and bow tie, to talk about what may have been yet another attempt on his life.
“Well, thank you very much,” he said. “That was very unexpected!”
Once again, a gunman got perilously close to President Trump.
The storming of a security checkpoint on Saturday evening by an armed man at the hotel hosting the White House Correspondents' Association dinner was the third time in three years that Mr. Trump had faced danger. During the 2024 campaign, he survived two assassination attempts, including a bullet grazing his ear in Butler, Pa.
The spring pea and burrata appetizer course had been distributed and the schmoozing hour of Saturday’s White House Correspondents’ Association dinner had begun when a small commotion occurred toward the back of the Washington Hilton ballroom shortly past 8:30 p.m.
It might have been an upturned catering cart, or perhaps a scuffle with protesters. Then security officers began sprinting down the aisles toward the elevated dais, where President Trump, along with Vice President JD Vance and the first lady, Melania Trump, had taken their seats just a few minutes earlier.
A California man was in custody in connection with the shooting at the White House correspondents’ dinner on Saturday night at the Washington Hilton, President Trump said during a news conference Saturday night.
The man in custody has not been identified publicly by the authorities, but two law enforcement officials familiar with the investigation said that he is Cole Tomas Allen, 31, of Torrance, Calif. The officials asked to remain anonymous because they had not been authorized to disclose the information.
Shortly after the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner began on Saturday around 8 p.m., a gunman was confronted and tackled by law enforcement officers near a security checkpoint of the Washington Hilton.
A security video posted online by President Trump showed the man running past a security checkpoint, with a swarm of law enforcement officials in pursuit. The man taken into custody was Cole Tomas Allen, 31, of Torrance, Calif., according to multiple law enforcement officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to disclose the information.“
No comments:
Post a Comment