Armed Suspect Apprehended After Exchanging Shots at White House Correspondents' Dinner Security Checkpoint

Investigators believe the armed man was targeting members of the administration. The suspect exchanged shots with an officer who was struck while wearing a bulletproof vest.

The incident occurred at the Washington Hilton, where the president, vice president, Cabinet officials, and journalists were gathered. Shots rang out outside the ballroom during the dinner. The president, first lady, and vice president were whisked off the dais by Secret Service and were not injured.

Other Cabinet officials in attendance, including the Defense Secretary, Secretary of State, and Health and Human Services Secretary, were hustled out of the room by security. One Secret Service agent was injured in the attack but was protected by a bulletproof vest, the president told reporters late Saturday.

Investigators believe the agent was shot by the suspect. The suspect was tackled to the ground by law enforcement officers and was not hit by gunfire, said the interim police chief for the city's metropolitan police department.

Police believe the suspect acted alone. The alleged shooter was a guest at the Washington Hilton, by train from Los Angeles to Chicago, and then Chicago to Washington.

With 2,300 guests at the event in the hotel's ballroom. Guests had to pass through magnetometers manned by the Secret Service and Transportation Security Administration to enter the ballroom.

Law enforcement requested that attendees leave the premises consistent with protocol, the president said. Authorities are searching the suspect’s home in California, the president said.

The suspect is not cooperating with authorities. Investigators are looking into the suspect's motivation and speaking with people who knew him. The suspect purchased the two firearms he carried within the last couple of years.

The U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia said the suspect will be arraigned on Monday. Cole Tomas Allen has no record of criminal charges or a civil court history in Los Angeles county. Allen earned a bachelor’s degree in 2017 in mechanical engineering from the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.

Social media posts show the suspect is a highly educated tutor and amateur video game developer.

The Washington Hilton was the site of an attempted assassination of President Ronald Reagan on March 30, 1981.