May 13, 2026:
Last month, in the American capitol during the WHCD/White House Correspondents' Dinner there was gunfire heard at the main security screening space. The American President, his wife, the American Vice President and members of the President’s cabinet were present. Everyone was evacuated by the Secret Service.
Police commanders identified the suspect as 31-year-old Cole Tomas Allen, who allegedly planned to attack numerous American officials at this event. Allen was arrested near the screening area outside the banquet hall. Agents believe he was staying at the hotel as a guest. One agent was hit in his bullet-resistant vest, admitted to a hospital but was later released. The suspect was taken to the hospital for a single knee injury despite not being hit by gunfire.
A statement that officials attributed to Allen criticized the American President's plans, implied that he was a friendly federal assassin, and stated that he planned to target administration officials. The manifesto did not name the American President, but stated that he was no longer willing to permit a pedophile, rapist, and traitor to coat my hands with his crimes. On April 27, Allen was charged with three criminal charges, using a firearm during a crime of violence, transportation of a firearm in interstate commerce with intent to commit a felony, and attempting to assassinate the American President. Allen has not yet entered a plea; however he faces life in prison if tried and convicted.
The incident was the third apparent attempt on the American President's life since 2024, following the July 2024 attempt in Pennsylvania, and a September 2024 attempt at the President’s golf club in Florida. This is also the second apparent presidential assassination attempt at the Washington Hilton, with the first being the attempted assassination of President Reagan in 1981.
The first WHCD took place in 2010 and since then the WHCA/White House Correspondents' Association holds an annual dinner in the American Capitol, with the current President, members of the press, and other notables in attendance. The 2026 dinner, held at the Washington Hilton, was the first such event attended by President Trump. He refused to attend during his first term and in 2025. The 2026 dinner featured a mentalist as the celebrity performer.
The event involved about 2,600 attendees, including senior administration officials such as the Vice President, the Secretary of War, the FBI director, the Health and Human Services Secretary and the Environmental Protection Agency administrator.
A Former FBI deputy director noted that security for the event was similar to a national security event, because of the concentration of senior government officials in one place. The FBI official noted that this massive coordination between the Secret Service and partner agencies had been organized in advance. Despite this, the highest security level was not invoked for the event. The Associated Press noted that the lobby of the Washington Hilton regularly remains open to other guests during the dinner, and that security and screening is typically located closer to the ballroom itself.
The Associated Press noted the American President's antagonistic relationship with journalists. Prior to the event, some five hundred journalists had signed a petition urging the WHCA to oppose the American President's efforts to trample freedom of the press. For her part, the WHCA president stated I don't think people realize how closely we are working with the White House. Among the protesters outside the event, one held a sign saying Journalism Is Dead.
The White House press secretary declared that a discussion about the line of succession took place before the dinner but that there were several members of the Cabinet not in attendance, so no specific designated survivor was needed.
At about 8:00 p.m., the suspect took a photo of himself standing in front of the mirror in his hotel room that he had reportedly booked at the venue, dressed in black with a red necktie. He reportedly also wore a small leather bag, a shoulder holster, a sheathed knife, pliers and wire cutters, before taking an unprotected back stairwell down from his room 10 floors above the ballroom. At 8:30 p.m., the suspect sent his manifesto, a text file titled Apology and Explanation, to family members via email.
At 8:36 p.m. the suspect was confronted by security near the main metal detector screening area of the Washington Hilton. Dinner was being served inside the main ballroom. He ran past the security checkpoint and authorities believe he fired at least one shot. Investigators suspected that the suspect was running at least 14 kilometers an hour while he was chased and apprehended, after he tripped and fell to the ground after hitting his knee on a magnetometer box. Several American Secret Service agents yelled shots fired inside the venue, according to press reports.
The CNN anchor was outside the main ballroom at the time, and reported being only a meter away from the gunman when the shots were fired. The CNN anchor described the shooter as firing what appeared to be a very serious weapon at least six times before being tackled and taken to the ground by police. The CNN anchor was ushered to safety in a nearby restroom by officers. It was later stated by investigators that the suspect had fired one shot with his shotgun and five rounds were fired by the Secret Service officer who had been struck in his protective vest.
The Secret Service stopped the suspect from entering the ballroom and he was taken into custody at the scene, after being stripped of his shirt to determine if the suspect had any explosives on him. One law enforcement officer was struck in his protective vest and was admitted to a hospital but was later released. According to one national newspaper, evidence seems to suggest that the suspect did not fire that bullet. The gunman sustained a single knee injury from the tackle, for which he was taken to a nearby hospital for treatment.
President Trump, seated at the head table on the stage as the mentalist performed for him, his wife, and another woman, was surrounded by Secret Service agents about ten seconds after the shots were fired. Once armed guards in tactical gear with rifles appeared on the dais and some other attendees, including the Vice President, had been evacuated, the president was escorted off the stage, briefly falling in the process. Many of the roughly 2,600 attendees took cover under their tables.
The White House Deputy Chief of Staff unsuccessfully attempted to start a U-S-A mantra as the president was escorted out and others began filming inside the ballroom. The president’s wife, the Vice President, the White House press secretary, and other cabinet members were also evacuated from the ballroom and moved to secure holding areas within the hotel. Several members of Congress were seen departing the event on foot, including a Rhode Island Senator and a Florida Representative.
The president remained inside the hotel in a secure area while officials assessed the situation. He departed the Washington Hilton for the White House at approximately 9:45 p.m. after law enforcement requested that all attendees leave the venue. Among the attendees, Charlie Kirk's widow was escorted away in tears.
The suspect was carrying a Maverick 12-gauge shotgun, an Armscor Precision .38 semiautomatic pistol and several knives. The Interim Washington, D.C., police chief said the suspect was taken to the hospital for a single knee injury despite not being hit by gunfire and that investigators believe he was staying at the hotel as a guest.
Before the FBI had named the suspect, two law enforcement officials spoke to news agencies and named him as Cole Tomas Allen, born April 11, 1995, a Caltech-educated tutor, video game developer, and mechanical engineer from Torrance, California. The president’s office posted images on Truth Social of Allen after his arrest, lying face down on the ground shirtless, with his hands cuffed behind his back, and surrounded by Secret Service agents.
According to law enforcement, Allen worked for C2 Education, a tutoring firm in Torrance and received a Teacher of the Month award from the company in late 2024. Wired magazine reported that Allen has been employed part-time at C2 Education since early 2020. According to Federal Election Commission records, Allen donated $25 to a Democratic Party PAC, ActBlue, for Kamala Harris's presidential campaign in October 2024. Allen had lived in the Greater Los Angeles area since 2010. Prior to the shooting, Allen lived with his parents, along with his two sisters and one brother.
Family members were interviewed by investigators and Secret Service agents said that Allen made radical statements and that he constantly referenced a plan to do 'something' to fix the issues with today's world, that he was part of a Connecticut-based group called The Wide Awakes based in Hartford, attended No Kings protests in California, and would regularly go to a shooting range to train with firearms. Allen's sister told Secret Service agents and the Montgomery County Police Department that Allen had purchased two handguns and a shotgun, which he stored at their parents' home without their knowledge.
Allen's brother notified the New London Police Department about the alleged manifesto that he sent to his family members. New London police chief Brian Wright released a statement the following afternoon, confirming that the individual wanted to share information they believed to be pertinent to the matter. The official characterized the writing as displaying anti-American sentiment and describes his targets as administration officials, and not guests or hotel employees. According to the official, Allen apologized to family and friends in his writing, and said that he does not expect forgiveness. New London police immediately turned their case over to federal law enforcement.
After the incident, FBI agents and the Torrance Police Department swarmed through Allen's house using tactical gear and armored vehicles. The acting American attorney general said that Allen boarded Amtrak on April 21 and took two of their routes, the Southwest Chief from Los Angeles to Chicago and the Floridian from Chicago to Washington, before checking in as a guest at the hotel on April 24.
Allen’s manifesto does not name President Trump, but listed among its grievances the federal government's strikes on what it claimed were drug boats in the Pacific early in 2026. It expressed the author's astonishment regarding the seeming lack of security at the hotel: “What the hell is the Secret Service doing?… No damn security. Not in transport. Not in the hotel. Not in the event.” CBS News noted that because the Washington Hilton was a functioning hotel with numerous public spaces during the dinner, only the areas where the dinner took place were secured by the Secret Service.
On April 27, the American Department of Justice held a news conference to announce that Allen was being charged with the attempted assassination of the American President, transportation of a firearm and ammunition through interstate commerce with intent to commit a felony, and discharge of a firearm during a crime of violence. He faces life in prison if tried and convicted.
Allen briefly appeared in federal court on April 27, for an initial hearing flanked by US Marshals and did not enter a plea as of April 28. In a court filing April 29, the Department of Justice provided new information and photos in connection to the case, including a list of his possessions at the time of his arrest and items recovered at his parents' home in Los Angeles.
President Trump held a meeting inside the Oval Office with cabinet members, soon after the shooting. Shortly after 9:00 p.m., the WHCA president addressed the ballroom from the stage, announcing that the program would continue momentarily. At approximately 9:20 p.m., security personnel began clearing out the ballroom, effectively canceling the event for the evening. The WHCA president later announced from the stage that the American President planned to give a briefing from the White House and that the dinner would be rescheduled within 30 days.
Sources told CBS News that the suspect had told law enforcement he was trying to shoot officials from the Trump administration. The day after the shooting, the Department of Justice announced that preliminary findings suggested the American President was the intended target.
Other media galas planned for the same night in the National capitol continued unabated including events associated with Substack, MS NOW, and Time Magazine. The mentalist, who had been entertaining Trump at the Correspondents' Dinner in the moments before the shooting, arrived at the MS NOW event feeling shaken up but glad that the parties were going on.
King Charles III and Queen Camilla made a state visit to the United States from April 27 and 30, meeting both the American President and the First Lady. After the shooting, Buckingham Palace announced that the state visit would go ahead as planned, but that the shooting incident resulted in increased security, though specifics have not been announced. King Charles III referenced the attack during his address to Congress, stating that such acts of violence will never succeed.
President Trump addressed the media two hours after the shooting. Shortly after the incident, he posted on Truth Social: “Quite an evening in D.C. The Secret Service and Law Enforcement did a fantastic job. They acted quickly and bravely. The shooter has been apprehended, and I have recommended that we let the show go on but will entirely be guided by Law Enforcement.” In a subsequent post, President Trump wrote that law enforcement had requested all attendees leave and confirmed that the first lady, vice president, and all Cabinet members were in perfect condition. He also stated the event would be rescheduled within 30 days and later held a press conference from the White House Briefing Room.
During the briefing that evening, President Trump said the venue was not a particularly secure building and used it as support for building an official White House Ballroom. He also doubted any connection of the shooter with the 2026 Iran war and said it would not stop him from winning the war in Iran.
On April 27, President and Mrs. Trump both accused talk show host Jimmy Kimmel of inciting violence against them and of strengthening the political rift within America, and both called for him to be fired from ABC immediately. Three days before the shooting, Kimmel made a joke on his show while pretending to be the host of the upcoming White House Correspondents' Dinner, stating that Mrs. Trump has a “glow like an expectant widow.” Kimmel responded to the accusations, stating that the joke was made days before the incident and that it has been based around their age difference and the American Presidents wife’s poker face during most events and reiterated that he was against any form of gun violence. On April 28, the Federal Communications Commission announced that it is accelerating the review of eight local broadcasting licenses used by ABC. On April 30, the FCC Chairman said the order was not related to the American President’s call for Kimmel to be fired.
A computer science professor at California State University told the Associated Press that Allen took a few of his classes before graduating with a master's degree in computer science in 2025. He described Allen as a “very good student indeed, always sitting in the first row of my class, paying attention and frequently emailing me with coursework questions,” adding that he was very shocked to hear that Allen was the suspect in the attack.
Neighbors who spoke to the Los Angeles Times said that Allen had just moved to the Torrance area six months prior to the attack. A pastor at Pasadena United Reformed Church told National Public Radio that Allen had attended his services while at California Institute of Technology from September 2013 until graduating in June 2017 with a Bachelor of Science degree, describing Allen as a nice, gentle, smart young man, a good guy and quiet.
Many world leaders condemned the shooting as an act of political violence, while also expressing relief that all attendees were safe.
The condemnation from Ukraine was made by its Foreign Minister and not President Zelensky. This has been interpreted as a sign of the Ukrainian president's growing frustration with Trump’s policy concerning the Russia-Ukraine war.
The White House correspondent for The New York Times, discussed the shooting in the context of security concerns and recent threats against Trump. The Washington bureau chief for Britain’s Guardian magazine wrote that the incident reflected the prevalence of political violence in America and noted that the President himself had been criticized in the past for violent suggestions, such as purging America of crime on one really violent day. After the shooting, a CNN commentator wrote about an emerging split reality in America, explaining how the reaction to recent acts of political violence reflected increasingly warped views of the perpetrators from people from both the left and the right, as well as how both sides were overwhelmingly likely to blame the other for those acts.
Media and fact checkers reported that conspiracy theories and unsupported claims rapidly circulated following the shooting at the Correspondents' Dinner. This surge of conspiracy theories was described and commented on by national and international media, often attributing it to distrust in the government, the media themselves and mutual distrust by both sides of the political spectrum.
Donie O'Sullivan discussed how prominent former American President’s supporters have recently questioned the official narrative on the attempted assassination of the American President in Pennsylvania, and quotes others blaming the American President and his administration's mendacity for their own mistrust of their statements. NBC News described and analyzed the fast spread of misinformation, stating that conspiracy theories and a knee-jerk skepticism of current events have become the default response for a growing number of Americans, deepened by the loss of trust in institutions and supercharged by starkly partisan politics. The White House Press Secretary called the conspiracy theories crazy nonsense.
One of the main reported false narratives was claims that the entire event was faked for political gain. On Bluesky, many users posted that it was staged, echoing the response to the 2024 American President’s assassination attempt in Pennsylvania. On X, others claimed that the shooting was staged to increase support for the American President’s plan to build a new ballroom in the White House. Other reasons given for staging the shooting were the American President's low approval ratings, and his actions in the 2026 Iran war. Comments from other critics were seen as them having prior knowledge of the shooting. One critic told Fox News shortly before that there will be some shots fired tonight in the room in apparent reference to a purportedly planned speech by President Trump. Snopes notes that in English the phrase shots fired is a common figure of speech that refers to someone making jokes or jabs at another person. There was no evidence that earlier comments referenced the shooting before it happened. A Fox correspondent reported that someone there emphasized she needed to be very safe at the event; while recounting this to the network, the call was cut out, causing speculation that Fox News was suppressing her account. The reporter cited poor cell reception for the call dropping and clarified: “To finish the story, he was telling me to be careful with my own safety because the world is crazy.”
Social media users claimed that a picture allegedly showing the American President standing behind a curtain observing the commotion at the ballroom proved that the shooting had been staged; that claim was shared in posts that reached millions of users of Bluesky, Facebook, Instagram, Threads, TikTok, and X. Snopes reported that even if the photo is authentic, the man in it is not Trump.
It has also been alleged that the suspect's name was massively searched in Israel before the incident, and that the suspect had been seen wearing an Israel Defense Forces sweatshirt; the last claim was spread by American, Russian, and Iranian X accounts. These claims are unverified or have been debunked. A viral image of a passport belonging to an Indian woman, who was supposedly married to the suspect, was in fact an AI-generated forgery.