WASHINGTON – US Secret Service agents bundled Donald Trump from the stage as shots rang out Saturday at a media gala, in what the president later described as an attack by a “would-be assassin.”
Armed guards opened fire at the gunman who charged through a security checkpoint just outside the ballroom of the hotel where Trump, First Lady Melania Trump, senior government officials and hundreds of other black-tie guests had gathered.
People dived under tables in chaotic scenes as Secret Service teams swarmed into the glitzy White House Correspondents’ Association dinner held annually at the Washington Hilton in the US capital.
World leaders reacted to the incident with shock, mixed with relief that the US leader and event attendees were unharmed.
French President Emmanuel Macron expressed support for Trump, adding that “violence has no place in a democracy” – a sentiment echoed by Britain’s prime minister Keir Starmer, who said “any attack on democratic institutions or on the freedom of the press must be condemned in the strongest possible terms.”
Trump posted surveillance camera footage of the gunman sprinting past security as guards drew their weapons. The man was detained at the scene.
“They seem to think he was a lone wolf, and I feel that too,” the president said at a news conference at the White House shortly after the incident.
Trump said one officer was shot at close range but appeared to not be critically injured.
He added that the venue was “not a particularly secure” facility, as questions swirled about the president’s safety.
Trump said at the hastily arranged news conference that he first thought the noise was a tray being dropped before he realized it was gunfire. He said he planned to re-schedule the media gala within a month.
City officials said the suspect, who will be arraigned in court on Monday on firearm and assault charges, appeared to have been a guest at the hotel. He was armed with a shotgun, handgun and knives.
“Law enforcement exchanged gunfire with the individual,” Washington police chief Jeffery Carroll told reporters. “A US Secret Service uniformed division officer was struck in his vest. He was transported to a local hospital for treatment. He appears to be in good spirits.”
Trump told reporters that the authorities have gone to the suspect’s apartment and “I guess he lives in California.”
An AFP photographer saw FBI tactical agents entering a two-story, brown house in Torrance, California associated with the suspect.
Some FBI and Secret Service agents were spotted leaving the scene a few hours later.
Multiple US news outlets identified the suspect as 31-year-old Cole Tomas Allen from the southwestern Los Angeles suburb.
Asked about Allen late Saturday, the FBI did not confirm his identity and told AFP it had nothing to add beyond what was disclosed in news conferences.
A LinkedIn profile with the name “Cole Allen” showed a picture of a man which appeared to match a photo of the suspect shared by Trump.
The social media profile said Allen was a mechanical engineer, computer scientist, game developer and teacher.
Last year, Allen uploaded a picture wearing a graduation gown and cap, saying he was “done” with his computer science master’s degree from California State University Dominguez Hills.
-Nampa/AFP