Suspect identified as Cole Thomas Allen
A White House Correspondents’ Association dinner celebrating press freedom descended into panic Saturday night after an armed man breached security at the Washington Hilton hotel and exchanged gunfire with law enforcement before being taken into custody.Investigators believe the suspects were able to gain access to the incident due to gaps in the outer security layer. Authorities said he was staying at the hotel, which allowed him to enter as a guest and pass the outermost inspection.
The hotel will be closed to the public beginning at 2 p.m. prior to dinner at 8 p.m., with entry restricted to hotel guests, ticket holders, invited attendees and those with official White House Correspondents Association documents.Officials also said there were no metal detectors at the hotel’s entrance and only a security perimeter near the ballroom where the event was being held.One volunteer described how the suspects took advantage of unsecured areas of the hotel to prepare for the attack. He was staying in a “makeshift room” near the entrance to the patio where bar carts were stored and “there was no security,” Helen Mabus said, quoted by the New York Post. “He’s in that room […] He grabbed it out of a bag or something,” she said, adding that the weapon was “very long” and “didn’t look like a typical gun.”She said he was handling the weapon and then “put it together and […] Running towards the stairs, getting ready to go down to the ballroom. “Jeff Carroll of the Metropolitan Police Department said the suspect “stormed a U.S. Secret Service checkpoint” armed with a shotgun, a pistol and multiple knives. He was pushed to the ground and handcuffed, appearing to be a “lone” shooter.The suspect was identified as Cole Tomas Allen, 31, of Torrance, California, the Associated Press reported. He was charged with felony firearm and assault, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia said.Security at annual events is typically tight when the president is in attendance. Inside the ballroom, further measures were taken, with the Secret Service maintaining another perimeter around the president, including a buffer zone separating him and others seated at the head table from other attendees. Agents were stationed in front of the stage and on the wings, along with heavily armed counter-assault teams, ready to respond.Law enforcement officials said their “multiple layers of protection” worked as designed, although the incident highlighted how suspects can pass through less secure areas before reaching interior checkpoints.Trump said the incident underscored why he wants to build a $400 million ballroom with state-of-the-art security features at the White House, a project that is currently facing litigation.
