Trump safe after shots fired at White House correspondents dinner, shooter in custody

US President Donald Trump and other top leaders of the United States were evacuated from an annual dinner of White House correspondents on Sunday due to a 'security incident' as loud bangs were heard at the venue. Soon after the incident, the security forces took the shooter in custody.

There were no visible indications of any injuries after the president was evacuated from White House Correspondents' ‌Association ⁠dinner. A cabinet member confirmed that gunshots were fired during the event. A law enforcement official told AP that the shooter opened fire inside the hotel where Trump and other officials were attending dinner.

Also read: Trump shares first reaction after shooting incident at White House: 'Let the show go on'


First lady Melania Trump and Vice President J D Vance were also safely evacuated from the venue. Shortly before being escorted off the ‌stage by security, Melania appeared to react to something in ⁠the crowd and had a concerned look on her face.

Trump's first reaction after the shooting incident

Soon after the incident, Trump said that the shooter had been apprehended and recommended "let the show go on," with the dinner meeting being entirely guided by law enforcement.

"Quite an evening in D.C. Secret Service and Law Enforcement did a fantastic job. They acted quickly and bravely. The shooter has been apprehended, and I have recommended that we “LET THE SHOW GO ON” but, will entirely be guided by Law Enforcement. They will make a decision shortly. Regardless of that decision, the evening will be much different than planned, and we’ll just, plain, have to do it again," he said in a post on Truth Social.

The US Secret Servive also announced that the shooter has been taken into custody and that law enforcement is actively assessing the situation.

The Secret Service and other authorities swarmed the banquet hall as guests ducked under tables to take cover by the hundreds. An FBI official said that the person armed with shotgun had attempted to breach security at White House press dinner, adding that the suspect fired at a Secret Service agent, who has not sustained injuries.

Also read: Trump shares first image of White House shooting suspect, shows man pinned down by armed officers

Suspect identified, was armed with 'multiple weapons'

The shooting suspect was identified as Cole Tomas Allen, 31, from California, two law enforcement officials told the Associated Press.

In a briefing held soon after the gun scare, Trump stated that the suspect was armed with multiple weapons. "He was taken down by brave members of US Secret Service. I have ordered it to be put out on Truth Social, and other places."

"The menace has been captured. They're going to his apartment. I guess he lives in California. And he's a sick person, a very sick person. And we don't want things like this to happen," he said about the suspect being taken into custody.

An FBI official, present at the briefing, said that FBI counter-terrorism unit will lead the investigation into the White House correspondents' dinner shooting incident.

Also read: Donald Trump stumbles as armed threat triggers security lockdown during Correspondent's Dinner

Trump's first attendance becomes historical

Trump's first attendance at the annual White House Correspondents' Association dinner in Washington as president had put his administration's relationship with the press on full public display.

As per a report by AP, Trump arrived to an event where the leaders of a nation at war mingled with celebrities, journalists and even a puppet, the Triumph the Insult Comic Dog, in a dinner that usually generates debate about whether the relationship between journalists and their sources should include socializing together and putting aside sometimes adversarial relationships.

Trump did not attend the meeting during his first term or the first year of his second. On the eve of the dinner, nearly 500 retired journalists signed a petition calling on the press association "to forcefully demonstrate opposition to President Trump’s efforts to trample freedom of the press.”

Also read: Shotgun, Handgun, knives: All you should know about Cole Tomas Allen, the gunman at White House press dinner for Trump

Past attempts at attacks on Trump

Trump was the target of an assassination attempt during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, back in 2024 when a gunman fired several shots, killing a rally goer and lightly wounding the president in the ear. He was grazed on his right ear when a 20-year-old gunman opened fire from a nearby rooftop while the Republican presidential candidate was holding a campaign rally in Butler on July 13.

A few months later, a Secret Service agent arrested another man after witnessing the barrel of a rifle poking from the bushes on the perimeter of the West Palm Beach golf course where Trump was playing a round.

The press dinner venue holds an attack history as the venue, the Washington Hilton, was the site where Republican President Ronald Reagan was shot by a would-be assassin in 1981.