APPLENEWS - STORY ADD
WHCA dinner shooting live updates: Suspect armed with multiple guns and knives
The suspect is named Cole Allen of Torrance, Calif., authorities said.
President Donald Trump, first lady Melania Trump and other dignitaries are safe after a shooting incident outside the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner Saturday night at the Washington, D.C., Hilton hotel.
The incident took place near the main magnetometer screening area at the event, according to the Secret Service. A suspect, whom law enforcement authorities identified as Cole Allen of Torrance, California, is in custody, officials said.
A Secret Service agent who was wearing an armored vest was struck in the chest, President Trump said at a press briefing following the incident. The Secret Service agent suffered non life-threatening injuries, according to the Washington, D.C., Metropolitan Police Department. No one else was injured in the incident.
A motive for the attack was not immediately known.
Key Headlines
- World leaders begin expressing solidarity after WHCA incident
- WHCA dinner brings back memories of Butler shooting, White House deputy chief of staff says
- Law enforcement gathers near address in Torrance, California
- Secret Service 'performed admirably,' director says
- Shooting suspect identified as Cole Allen, according to authorities
- Shooting suspect armed with shotgun, handgun, knives
Shooting suspect identified as Cole Allen, according to authorities
The suspect in the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner shooting has been identified as Cole Allen from Torrance, California, according to authorities.
According to law enforcement officials briefed on the investigation, the suspect is believed to have booked a room in the Hilton in early April.
He is declining to answer questions but allegedly made some reference to targeting administration officials but was not specific, the officials said.
He mentioned that he is a tutor in California, according to officials.
-ABC News' Pierre Thomas, Luke Barr, Katherine Faulders and Josh Margolin
Shooting suspect armed with shotgun, handgun, knives
The suspect in the shooting incident at the White House Correspondents Association dinner Saturday night was armed with a shotgun, a handgun and multiple knives, officials said at a press briefing late Saturday night.
At approximately 8:36 p.m. ET, the suspect charged a U.S. Secret Service checkpoint at the Hilton hotel, where the event was taking place, and exchanged gunfire with law enforcement, according to Jeff Carroll, Interim Chief of Police for Washington, D.C.'s Metropolitan Police Department.
A U.S. Secret Service Uniform Division officer was struck in his vest and was transported to local hospital for treatment, officials said.
The suspect, who was not struck by gunfire, was transported to a local hospital to be evaluated, according to officials.
U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro confirmed at the press briefing that the suspect, who has not yet been publicly identified, was "being charged with two counts: 924C, using a firearm during a crime of violence, and a second crime under 111, which is assault on a Federal officer, using a dangerous weapon."
Pirro also confirmed that a uniformed Secret Service agent was shot but would be “fine.”
-ABC News' Nicholas Kerr and Lauren Minore