DC Correspondent Dinner Everything we know about gunman suspect Cole Allen

The annual White House Correspondents’ Dinner was canceled Saturday night after an armed man, Cole Allen, allegedly ran through a security checkpoint and exchanged gunfire with law enforcement.

The suspected shooter was arrested at the scene and is scheduled to be arraigned on Monday. One law enforcement officer was shot but not seriously injured, and all Trump administration officials and members of Congress were evacuated safely. No injuries were reported to participants.

President Donald Trump, who was attending his first White House Correspondents’ Dinner as president since the incident, requested that the event be rescheduled. The dinner was originally scheduled to take place, but was canceled after law enforcement determined the venue was a crime scene.

Here’s what we know about Allen.

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said on CNN’s “State of the Union” that the suspected gunman likely targeted administration officials.

“It appears that the suspect was targeting government officials,” Blanche said, noting that authorities are still “trying to determine the motive from preliminary investigations.”

Blanche said it was unclear whether the gunman was targeting “specific members” of the regime, only that “we understand that that was his objective and his target.”

Allen, who lives in Torrance, Calif., traveled by train “from Los Angeles to Chicago and from Chicago to Washington, D.C.,” Blanche said.

Allen was booked at the Washington Hilton, where the dinner party was to be held, and Blanche checked in on Friday.

Blanche said the suspect was not cooperating with authorities and that authorities obtained most of the information about him through “other means.”

“We have already started talking to people who knew him and started looking at the evidence we have collected,” he said.

According to his LinkedIn profile, Allen was a teacher at C2 Education, which provides tutoring, test prep and college admissions counseling.

“We were shocked to hear of the horrific incident that occurred at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner,” C2 said in a statement to CNBC.

“We are fully cooperating with law enforcement to assist in their investigation. Violence of any kind is never the answer,” the company said.

According to his LinkedIn profile, he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from California Institute of Technology and a master’s degree in computer science from California State University, Dominguez Hills.

Allen reportedly wrote a letter detailing his plans, the contents of which were obtained by the New York Post.

In a memo published by the Post, Allen reportedly said, “I will no longer allow pedophiles, rapists, and traitors to paint their crimes on my hands.”

Mr. Allen referred to himself in the letter as a “friendly federal assassin.”

The suspect in the shooting also said security at the event and the Washington Hilton was lighter than expected, something many elected officials and attendees also noted.

A surveillance conference is scheduled at the U.S. Capitol in the wake of the shooting, which will be the third attempt on President Trump’s life since 2024.

A spokesperson for Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) told MS NOW that the U.S. Secret Service is planning a bipartisan briefing on “security protocols and related law enforcement issues related to the White House Correspondents’ Dinner.”

Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi told MS NOW that the suspect’s brother contacted the New London, Conn., police department about the letter, which then contacted the Secret Service. The Secret Service learned of the letter between 9pm and 11pm ET on Saturday.

Blanche said Sunday there was “no indication yet” that Allen was the subject of law enforcement surveillance.

“What we know about this person is still under investigation,” he said.

Blanche said Allen had purchased “two firearms on his person” within the past two years and “also had a knife in his possession.”

Despite apparent security breaches and widespread remarks about unusually lax security at the event, Blanche said he was “overly confident that the Secret Service accomplished its mission here.”

Allen “barely made it through the perimeter, but was quickly subdued. . . . This is exactly what law enforcement agencies have been training to do their whole lives.”

—CNBC’s Ryan Ruggiero contributed to this report.

Correction: Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley, an Iowa Republican, told MS NOW that the U.S. Secret Service is scheduled to hold a briefing on security protocols and law enforcement issues related to the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. Previous versions incorrectly listed Grassley.