WASHINGTON, Apr 26 (THE AFRICAN PORTAL) – US President Donald Trump and other attendees were evacuated Saturday night after gunshots were fired at a glitzy media gala in Washington.
As details continue to emerge and investigations are underway, here is what we know about the shooting:
How did the shooting unfold?
Around 8:35pm ET guests at the Washington Hilton dinner took cover when shots were heard after the welcoming speech at the annual dinner of the White House Correspondents’ Association, video footage showed.
A sole gunman had rushed a Secret Service checkpoint in a lobby, Washington, DC, Mayor Muriel Bowser and interim Police Chief Jeffery Carroll later told reporters.
“He was armed with a shotgun, a handgun and multiple knives,” Carroll told reporters.
Inside the ballroom, tactical security teams with guns drawn took position on the stage where Trump was seated alongside his wife Melania, Vice President JD Vance and other officials, who were swiftly evacuated.
Hundreds of guests in black tie in the ballroom took cover under tables and later made their way into the hotel lobby and then outdoors as the event was postponed.
Meanwhile law enforcement exchanged gunfire with the suspect and “intercepted that individual,” Carroll said.
A long gun and shell casings were found on the scene, FBI Director Kash Patel said, adding that the agency was carrying out witness interviews as part of its probe.
Was anyone hurt in the shooting?
Authorities said no dignitaries or gala guests were hurt.
A uniformed Secret Service officer was “struck in his vest” and taken to hospital, but was doing well, Carroll said.
The suspect was not hit by gunfire, but was taken to a hospital to be evaluated.
What do we know about the suspected shooter?
The suspect, who was detained at the scene, was later identified by a law enforcement official as Cole Tomas Allen, 31, a Los Angeles-area man who appears from social media sites to be a Caltech graduate working as a part-time teacher and game developer.
Allen told law enforcement following his arrest that he wanted to shoot Trump administration officials, CBS News reported on Sunday, citing two sources.
The chief of the District of Columbia police department said investigators believe that Allen was checked in as a guest at the Washington Hilton hotel.
Allen, who is believed to be the only suspect in the case, is now custody and due to be arraigned on Monday in a federal court.
He is being charged with two counts currently: using a firearm during a crime of violence, and assault on a federal officer using a dangerous weapon, US Attorney Jeanine Pirro said.
Other charges could still be brought as the investigation proceeds.
“My impression is he was a lone wolf,” Trump said, adding that the suspect’s motivation was not yet clear but he believed the gunman was “sick.”
Were there security failures?
Questions swirled regarding the security at the reception and how a gun was brought into the hotel.
The hotel was closed to the public beginning at 2pm Saturday in anticipation of the dinner which began at 8pm. Outside, dozens of protesters gathered in the rain – mostly directing their criticism at the media attending the event.
The 2,300 guests at the event in the hotel’s cavernous subterranean ballroom had to pass through several additional checks to enter the room, including showing tickets to association volunteers and hotel staff and passing through magnetometers manned by the Secret Service and Transportation Security Administration.
Once the president was seated in the ballroom, additional attendees were not permitted to enter the secured area, which is why they were taking them down.
The suspect is believed to have made it past the outermost layer of security at the event because he was a guest of the hotel, officials said.
The checkpoint that the suspect tried and failed to charge past was “right outside the ballroom,” authorities said.”Because that checkpoint worked, there was no one who was injured,” Pirro said.
“We’ll go through video across the hotel to figure out how the gun got in, how it got down here,” Carroll added.
According to Trump, the security services did a “much better job than Butler,” where he was the target of an assassination attempt in 2024 during a campaign rally in the state of Pennsylvania.
How has Trump responded to the shooting?
Around 10:30pm ET Trump addressed the media in a press conference at the White House, accompanied by the director of the FBI and the acting US attorney general.
Prior to the press conference he had also posted about the incident on social media.
The President struck a philosophical tone in response to the latest in a series of incidents to target the Republican leader.
“I ask respectfully, why do you think this keeps happening to you?” a reporter asked Trump – who had a ready answer about the 79-year-old’s own position in the pantheon of US presidents.
“Well, you know, I’ve studied assassinations,” Trump said. “And I must tell you the most impactful people, the people that do the most – you take a look at Abraham Lincoln… the people that make the biggest impact, they’re the ones that they go after.”
“I hate to say I’m honored by that, but I’ve done a lot,” Trump added. “We’ve changed this country, and there are a lot of people that are not happy about that. So I think that’s the answer.”
The President said the annual dinner would be rescheduled to take place next month.
Credit: France24
