President Donald Trump (R) and other high-ranking U.S. officials were evacuated from a ballroom at the Washington Hilton Hotel after an attacker charged a security checkpoint and fired at U.S. Secret Service officers. The ballroom was the site of the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, an annual event attended by numerous administration officials, media personalities, reporters, and their families.
The suspect carried multiple weapons including a handgun, shotgun, and multiple knives. A uniformed Secret Service officer was shot and injured, but he was protected by a bullet-resistant vest and is expected to make a full recovery. No other injuries have been reported. Witnesses heard between three and eight shots during the incident; it is not clear if any law enforcement or security officers fired their weapons.
Media reports have identified the gunman as Cole Tomas Allen, a thirty-one year old man from Torrance, California, who was a guest at the hotel. Allen has been charged with multiple federal crimes and may face additional charges. Allen was not not hit by gunfire, but was apparently injured and was transported to an area hospital. Allen’s hotel room and his California home are now being searched by federal authorities.
The remainder of the dinner was postponed and attendees were ordered out of the building. Trump gave a press briefing at the White House about two hours after the incident; he thanked Secret Service officers for their quick response to the attack and praised Weijia Jiang, the senior White House correspondent for CBS News and the current president of the White House Correspondents’ Association. Trump said he wanted to return to the event, but had to follow law enforcement protocol. Trump and Jiang intend to reschedule the dinner within thirty days.
The White House Correspondents’ Dinner is the main annual event for the White House Correspondents’ Association, a private organization that partly governs press access to the president and other White House officials. Since President Calvin Coolidge (R) attended in 1924, and with the sole exception of Trump’s first term, every president has attended at least one during their term in office. This was the first time Trump attended. Other attendees included Vice President J.D. Vance (R), many members of Trump’s cabinet, members of the U.S. Congress, the White House correspondents for most major media organizations, and many more family members and guests.
The Washington Hilton Hotel was also the site of the March 30, 1981, attempted assassination of President Ronald Reagan (R).
Update, April 26, 2026, 11:30 a.m.: This post has been updated to add additional background information about the correspondents’ dinner and to improve clarity.