President Donald Trump, the first lady and top Cabinet officials were evacuated from a Washington hotel ballroom Saturday night after gunfire was heard during a dinner for White House correspondents. The president was not injured.

A Secret Service agent wearing a bullet-resistant vest was shot and was taken to a hospital, D.C. interim police chief Jeff Carroll said at a news conference at the Washington Hilton, the site of the event.

The Secret Service confirmed in a post on X that one person is in custody in the shooting that occurred near a magnetometer screening area in the hotel.

At the news conference, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser said a man rushed the Secret Service checkpoint at the hotel a little after at 8:30 p.m. E.T. Carroll said the man “was armed with a shotgun, a handgun and multiple knives.”

Law enforcement officers “exchanged gunfire” with the suspect, who authorities believe acted alone, Carroll said. He said authorities believe the suspect fired a shot, but cautioned that the investigation is in its early stages. The suspect was taken to a hospital and is under observation, Carroll said.

Carroll added that authorities believe the suspect was a guest at the hotel.

A former senior law enforcement official briefed on the matter told MS NOW the suspect in the shooting has been identified as Cole Allen from Torrance, Calif., a city about 20 miles south of Los Angeles. Allen is 31 years old, according to two law enforcement officials.

A spokesperson for the California Institute of Technology said the school has a record of a student by the same name who graduated in 2017 but said further information was unavailable. A photo of the suspect on LinkedIn shows him praised as “Teacher of the Month” at a college test prep and tutoring service in December 2024.

At the news conference, U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro said the suspect is being charged with using a firearm during a crime of violence and with assault on a federal officer using a dangerous weapon. She said the suspect will be arraigned in federal court on Monday and that he is likely to face “many more charges.”

“It is clear, based upon what we know so far, that this individual was intent on doing as much harm and as much damage as he could,” Pirro said.

She said the worst-case scenario was prevented “because of the checkpoint right outside the ballroom” and the fast-acting law enforcement officials at the scene.

It’s unclear who was the target of the shooting incident, but Trump said at an earlier briefing at the White House that t it might have been him.

“I guess. These people are crazy,” Trump said when asked if he thought he was the intended target. “When they’re impactful, they go after you. When you’re not impactful, they leave you alone.”

It’s unclear who was the target of the shooting incident, but Trump told a reporter it might have been him at an impromptu press conference after the incident on Saturday night.

Trump said the suspect “charged a security checkpoint armed with multiple weapons,” adding that he was “taken down by some very brave members of Secret Service.”

The president said the officer who was wounded “was shot from very close distance with a very powerful gun, and the vest did the job.”

Trump said he had just spoken to the officer and that “he’s doing great.”

In a Truth Social post at 9:17 p.m. E.T., Trump said the suspect had been apprehended and that he hoped the evening would continue but said the final decision was up to law enforcement.

“Quite an evening in D.C. Secret Service and Law Enforcement did a fantastic job. They acted quickly and bravely.”

Trump wrote that regardless of law enforcement’s decision, “the evening will be much different than planned, and we’ll just, plain, have to do it again.”

Weijia Jiang, the president of the White House Correspondents’ Association, told the crowd inside the Washington Hilton ballroom following the incident that law enforcement requested they leave, in line with protocol.

Jiang said the president “insists” the gathering — the first Trump has attended as president during his two terms in office— would be rescheduled within 30 days.

She praised the journalists at the dinner for continuing to report while the incident unfolded.

“I said earlier tonight that journalism is a public service, because when there is an emergency, we run to the crisis, not away from it,” she told the crowd. “And on a night when we are thinking about the freedoms in the First Amendment, we must also think about how fragile they are. I saw all of you reporting, and that’s what we do.”

The began shortly after Jiang welcomed tuxedo- and gown-clad journalists and their guests to the annual dinner. Trump, the first lady and others were sitting at a table on the dais.

Videos from the scene show officers swarming the banquet hall as guests ducked under tables by the hundreds. “Out of the way, sir!” someone yelled. Others yelled at guests to duck.

Some in the crowd reported hearing what they believed to be gunfire. The banquet hall — where hundreds of prominent journalists, celebrities and national leaders were awaiting Trump’s speech — was evacuated. Members of the National Guard took up position inside the building as people were allowed to leave but not re-enter. Security outside was also extremely tight.

In addition to Trump and Vice President JD Vance, those in attendance included Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, CIA Director Kash Patel, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.

By 9:30 p.m. some of the Cabinet officials who had been evacuated were being ushered back into the room, including Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought and Education Secretary Linda McMahon.

An employee of MS NOW reported seeing the FBI on the scene.

Members of the pool, a group of journalists who travel alongside the president, were back at the White House Briefing Room by about 10 p.m. The live feed showed some reporters doing live shots from the briefing room in their formal wear as they waited for the president to arrive to give a briefing.

During his briefing Trump said the venue was “not a particularly secure building” and that it emphasizes the need for the White House ballroom he is having built.

“We need the ballroom,” he said.

“We need the ballroom.”

President donald trump

Trump pointed to social media posts, including on his Truth Social account, that appear to show photos of the suspect face down and security footage from the lobby of the venue. The video shows a figure appear to rush past a security checkpoint while officers draw their guns.

“He was a guy who looked pretty evil when he was down,” Trump said of the suspect, calling him “a sick person,” and said authorities were on their way to the man’s home in California.

Trump referenced the other two attempts on his life during his presidency — in Butler, Pa., in July 2024 and at his golf course in Palm Beach, Fla., two months later. Trump was injured in the Pennsylvania shooting.

Patel, Vance, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, Hegseth, and Rubio stood near Trump in the briefing room during his remarks.

Trump also praised the journalists at the briefing — a rarity — for their reporting on the chaos.

“You’ve been very responsible in your coverage,” he said.

Carol Leonnig, Akayla Gardner, Jake Traylor and Peggy Helman contributed reporting.

The post Trump evacuated after gunman breaches security at annual correspondents’ dinner, suspect in custody appeared first on MS NOW.

From MS Now.