The suspected gunman entered the WHCA dinner hotel the night before the event
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Rifleman Cole Allen walked into the Hilton Hotel hosting the White House Correspondents' Dinner on Friday, just one day before the event, sources told Fox News.
Allen, 31, a computer scientist from Torrance, California, is accused of opening fire at an event attended by President Donald Trump. Initial reports say the Secret Service fired 3-4 shots, and Allen fired at least one.
The FBI is conducting a ballistics investigation at its Quantico lab, and authorities are working with credit card companies to buy back in time.
Authorities say Allen initially talked to police, but began to refuse to talk as of Sunday morning.
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Media and onlookers gather in front of the house linked to Cole Thomas Allen, the shooting suspect at the White House Correspondents' Dinner, in Torrance, CA on Saturday night, April 25, 2026. (Robbin Goddard / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
Sources say Allen is scheduled to make his first court appearance on Monday.
Allen told law enforcement after his arrest Saturday night that he meant it Trump administration officialsaccording to the organization's top legal sources.
Allen said he planned to “fire Trump administration officials,” the sources said.
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A suspect lies face down as police arrest him following a security incident at the White House Correspondents' Dinner in Washington, DC, on April 25, 2026. (@realDonaldTrump via Truth Social)
Authorities said Allen rushed to a Secret Service checkpoint at an event at the Washington Hilton while armed with multiple weapons. It is said that he then opened fire, hitting a Secret Service officer who was wearing his vest.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said Sunday that authorities do not believe Allen worked with any accomplices. Trump said Saturday night that the shooter was a “lone wolf.”
“Well, what President Trump said is that as of now we think, that's what the police chief said,” Blanche told NBC's “Meet the Press” on Sunday. “But this is an investigation that's 12 hours, 13 hours old, so those facts can change, and they often do. And if there's someone else involved we're not going to leave you out to find out everything we can about that.”
US President Donald Trump speaks during a press conference in the Brady Briefing Room of the White House on April 25, 2026 in Washington, DC. President Trump made the statement after the annual White House Correspondents Association Dinner was canceled after a possible shooting. (Nathan Howard/Getty Images)
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“But from what we know right now, from what we know from the deposition that happened last night, and the evidence we've gathered so far, we don't believe there's anyone else involved, but again, we have a lot of work left to do, and a lot of evidence left to go through and collect,” Blanche said.
David Spunt of Fox News contributed to this report.
