A confrontation between law enforcement and the alleged gunman at the White House Correspondents' Dinner lasted just seven seconds. The suspect, Cole Allen, was subdued before reaching President Trump and guests. No one was seriously injured in the incident.
Shortly after 8:30 p.m. on Saturday, Cole Allen, a 31-year-old alleged assassin, burst through a set of double doors one floor above the ballroom at the Washington Hilton Hotel. The ballroom held President Trump and roughly 2,600 guests during the salad course of the White House Correspondents' Dinner. Multiple sources familiar with the matter told CBS News that federal law enforcement apprehended him seven seconds later. Security camera footage shows Allen descending from his 10th-floor room via an interior stairwell, walking a corridor, and entering an elevator bank where he shed a jacket concealing a shotgun. Authorities later found the jacket there, along with multiple knives, a handgun, and a tactical vest on Allen, according to court filings and officials. A K-9 unit briefly appeared at the doors before Allen rushed through, sprinting past a magnetometer the U.S. Secret Service was disassembling. Gunfire erupted two seconds later as Secret Service Director Sean Curran described: the suspect shot at a uniformed officer, who returned fire with five shots while hit point-blank in the chest by buckshot. The officer sustained bruising on his protective vest; Allen was not hit and fell after hitting his knee on a magnetometer box. U.S. Attorney for D.C. Jeanine Pirro shared video on X showing Allen running the checkpoint. The distance to the ballroom podium was nearly 355 feet, Curran noted on Fox News, with over 30 federal protective details on site. Allen faces charges of attempting to assassinate the president, transporting a firearm with intent to commit a felony, and discharging a firearm during a violent crime. Prosecutors plan an additional assault charge, sources said. President Trump told reporters: 'They stopped the NFL running back. He was like a running back... He was a speedy guy. But he was stopped.' Trump called the Hilton a 'tough location' for security but praised the response.
