Suspected gunman to face charges in court tomorrow after shooting at Washington dinner

THE SUSPECT IN the shooting overnight at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner in Washington will appear in court tomorrow to face charges over the incident.

Trump shared photos of the suspected shooter, shirtless and in handcuffs facedown on a carpeted floor, in what appears to be the Hilton lobby.

Authorities are yet to publicly confirm his identity, but US media reported that the suspect was a 31-year-old named Cole Tomas Allen from Torrance, California.

He is understood to have been a guest in the Washington Hilton hotel where the event was being held and faces charges including assaulting an officer with a dangerous weapon, but acting attorney general Todd Blanche said additional charges will be filed.

“He was armed with a shotgun, a handgun and multiple knives,” Metropolitan Police Department interim chief Jeffery Carroll told reporters after the incident.

The detained man is believed to be the only suspect in the case, officials said.

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.

The gunman charged towards the ballroom in a chaotic encounter with Secret Service agents as guests dived under tables at the sound of shots being fired.

US president Donald Trump was uninjured and was rushed off the stage.

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One officer, who was reportedly shot at close range but protected by his bulletproof vest, was taken to hospital.

Acting attorney general Blanche said that the incident involved “the very worst and the very best” of the country.

“You saw the very worst by the actions of that coward,” Blanche added, “but you also saw the very best because you saw law enforcement do exactly what they’re supposed to do.

“I promise you justice will be served.”

Based on preliminary information, “we do believe he was a guest here at the hotel,” Carroll told reporters.

“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.”

Questions raised over security

Trump, who has already been the target of two assassination attempts, credited the security services for doing 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.

But questions have arisen since the attack regarding the security at the reception and how a gun was brought into the hotel.

Attendees pointed out that there was a magnetometer placed outside the ballroom, but there was no such screening before that or at the entrance to the hotel itself.

Trump initially said it was “not a particularly secure building,” but later said the ballroom where the event was being held was not breached by the gunman and was “very, very secure.”

The checkpoint that the suspect tried 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.

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