Saturday April 25, 2026 | WASHINGTON, DC [11:59 pm PT | Updated April 26, 2026]
by Mary P Brooke | Island Social Trends
The annual Washington Press correspondents dinner tonight was marred by a shooter approaching the ballroom.
It happened around 8 pm ET.
The 31-year-old California man was apprehended by secret service personnel before reaching the ballroom packed with nearly 2,000 journalists as well as the head table where President Donald Trump, First Lady Melania Trump, Vice President JD Vance, Charlie Kirk’s widow Erika Kirk, and others were seated.
Also in the room were Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth.
So far it is known that the shooter had a room at the Washington Hilton Hotel where were the annual press dinner was taking place. The shooter was found to have had a long gun, hand guns and knives with him (which he is presumed to have had brought into the hotel earlier).
Media reporting the name of the shooter as Cole Tomas Allen of Torrance, California. so far, he is thought to have acted alone. He is reportedly a tutor and computer programmer and amateur video game developer. As learned by media from social media posts, Allen is a mechanical engineering from the California Institute of Technology.
Through the lobby, the shooter made a fast run for the doors of the ballroom but was taken down by special security before he could reach the room full of elected leaders and Washington press corps journalists who were behind closed (reportedly locked) doors for the White House Correspondents Dinner.
Some reports say the shooter was shot by government security but others say he was just apprehended. A secret service agent was shot by the suspect but was protected by a bullet-proof vest; he was taken to hospital but later released.
Journalists on the job:
Many of the journalists in the room started filing stories right away with their networks or publications including CNN (Wolf Blitzer), CBC (Paul Hunter), and others. In live and followup news coverage many of the seasoned journalists were shaken but did their job — covering a shooting that this time involved them directly in real time.
Press conference:
After it was advised by security officials that the event should not continue this evening (as the room had been compromised in terms of security protocols), Trump held a press conference back at the White House within hours of the shooting, saying the event would be rescheduled to another date within 30 days.
He highlighted the irony of ‘bringing together’ all sides of politics as well as with the media by having shared a high-tension event.
Trump acknowledged that being a high-profile politician is dangerous — in this case for both himself and the first lady and others in his administration.
Trump said he feels the Hilton hotel where the event happened is “not a particularly secure building”. He pointed out that the White House ballroom that he is rebuilding will have “storm proof and bullet-proof glass” and other security features.
“We need levels of security that no one has ever seen before,” said Trump, regarding political activity in general.
But he said he was not critical of the US security services, that he “saw law enforcement do exactly what we want them to do”.
It’s always shocking:
When asked by one of the media if he was shocked by tonight’s shooting — having been the target of two other shootings in this term (one ahead of being elected), Trump said: “It’s always shocking. That never changes.”
He added that Melania Trump — seated next to him at the dinner, had said “that’s a bad noise” before they learned what he actually happened.
Trump said that “the most impactful people, the people that do the most, they’re the ones” that become targets.
Iran:
On the matter of Iran, Trump told media that they “can’t let Iran get a nuclear weapon — they would use it without hesitation”.
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