Not long after, the president was evacuated from the White House Correspondents Association Dinner after shots were fired. The name of the man who is believed to have fired the shots has been released.
According to the Daily Mail, a 30-year-old California teacher named Cole Tomas Allen has been taken into custody in connection with the shooting. Earlier reports, apparently erroneous, had stated that the shooter had been shot and killed.
But not much has been revealed so far about the alleged gunman, except that he’s 30 years old, from Torrance, Calif., and is a teacher.
It’s not confirmed that Allen was attempting to kill the president or someone else.
Photo of alleged shooter Cole Thomas Allen, a Kamala Harris donor, posted by President Trump.
It is unclear from the photos if Allen was shot in the legs or if he has pants on, based on the foil covering his lower half.
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“‘Apparently, they got the gunman; he had a major weapon there, it was so worrisome. The noise was so loud. I was a few feet away from the gunman who was shooting randomly, half a dozen shots they were so loud,” CNN’s Wolf Blitzer said after the reported gunshots.
After the shooting and arrest, and after it was announced that the dinner would not continue, the president later appeared at the White House, still in a tuxedo.
“He’s a lone wolf, a wack job. These are crazy people. Sick, sick people,” Trump said of the man who was arrested.
According to the New York Times, “Two law enforcement officials who were not authorized to discuss the matter identified the man in custody as Cole Tomas Allen, 31, of Torrance, Calif. Mr. Trump posted two images on Truth Social showing a man he said was the attacker being detained and told reporters that law enforcement officials were heading to the suspect’s apartment in California…
Mr. Trump also posted a brief surveillance video of a man running past the security checkpoint at the Washington Hilton, where the dinner was being held. In the video, agents drew their guns and appeared to start firing.”
Photo courtesy of the Political Tribune media library.
