White House dinner shooting suspect was armed with multiple weapons, says Trump

US President Donald Trump on Sunday stated that the shooting suspect at the White House press dinner was armed with multiple weapons.

A shooting incident took place at the venue of White House Correspondents' ‌Association ⁠dinner, leading to the immediate evacuation of the venue where Trump, First Lady Melania Trump, Vice President JD Vance, and other senior officials from the US government were present along with hundreds of journalists and cabinet ministers.

"The dinner shooting suspect was armed with multiple weapons before being stopped by Secret Service," he said at a press briefing soon after the incident.


On the arrest of the shooting suspect, Trump said, "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."

Also read: Trump evacuated after shots fired at White House correspondents dinner

The US government has released a picture of the man who has been taken into custody regarding the White House shooting incident. "Suspect was a guy who looked pretty evil," Trump said, adding that the Secret Service thinks he was a lone wolf and so does he.

"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.

On the event venue, the US President said, "It is not particularly a secure building. This is why we have to have all the attributes we are planning at White House."

"This is why we have to have all of the attributes of what we're planning at the White House. It's actually a larger room and it's a much more secure. It's got drone-proof, it's bulletproof glass," he added.

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

"We need the ballroom. That's why the Secret Service, that's why the military are demanding it. They've wanted the ballroom for 150 years for lots of different reasons, but today's a little bit different because today we need levels of security that probably nobody's ever seen before. But everyone knows a tremendous debt of gratitude to the courage of law enforcement."

The president noted that law enforcement is working with the DC police and he also spoke to with the mayor.

"And when we're finished, the police chief is going to take over and discuss it also from their viewpoint. But they also performed exactly as they were supposed to, and you see the attacker in different positions, but you also see the attacker totally subdued and under control," Trump said at the press briefing.

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.