WASHINGTON (AP) — The accused gunman who tried to storm the ballroom at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner with guns and knives travelled across the country before the event and is believed to have been targeting President Donald Trump and members of his administration, acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said Sunday.
Blanche also said officials believe the suspect travelled by train from California to Chicago and then on to Washington, where in recent days he checked in as a guest at the hotel where one of the glitziest events in the nation’s capital was being held Saturday night.
Investigators have not publicly named the suspect, but two law enforcement officials familiar with the matter have identified him to The Associated Press as 31-year-old Cole Tomas Allen of Torrance, California.
Law enforcement officials who have examined the gunman’s electronic devices and his writings preliminarily believe he intended to target administration members in attendance at the dinner. He attempted to charge into the cavernous ballroom at the Washington Hilton but was tackled to the ground in a chaotic scene that resulted in shots being fired, President Donald Trump being hurried off the stage, and guests ducking for cover beneath their tables.
“It does appear that he did in fact set out to target folks who work in the administration, likely including the president,” Blanche told NBC’s “Meet the Press”.
The suspect is believed to have purchased the two firearms he carried within the last couple of years, Blanche said. He is not being cooperative and is expected to face multiple charges on Monday.
A video posted by Trump showed the suspect running past security barricades as Secret Service agents ran toward him. One officer was shot in a bullet-resistant vest but was recovering, officials said. The gunman was taken into custody and was not injured, but was being evaluated at a hospital, police said.
“He failed,” Blanche said on CBS’s “Face the Nation”. “Law enforcement did their jobs.”
Authorities believe the suspect fired the shot that hit the Secret Service officer, who is expected to make a full recovery, Blanche said.
“He’s going to be great; he’s going to be fine, and thank God he was wearing a bulletproof vest,” Blanche said Sunday on ABC’s “This Week”.
Social media posts that appear to match the suspect show he is a highly educated tutor and amateur video game developer.
A May 2025 profile photo of Allen appears to match the appearance of the man in a photo of the alleged attacker being taken into custody that was posted Saturday night by Trump. The photo, posted to the social networking site LinkedIn, shows him in a cap and gown after graduating with a master’s degree in computer science.
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