United States President Donald Trump has been rushed out of the White House correspondents dinner at a hotel in Washington, DC, after a gunman fired shots and tried to breach security.
The president, first lady Melania Trump, Vice President JD Vance and Trump’s cabinet members were unharmed in the shooting at the Washington Hilton hotel.A Secret Service agent was hit but was protected by a bullet-resistant vest. Trump said he was in “great shape”.
The White House said the suspect, identified as 31-year-old Cole Tomas Allen from California, is in custody. Trump said he was heavily armed and appeared to be acting alone.
The White House correspondents dinner will be rescheduled in 30 days, he said.
The president was to speak at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner at the Washington Hilton on Saturday night.
The dinner is an annual event at which journalists who cover the White House celebrate the First Amendment of the US Constitution, which ensures the freedom of speech and the press, and raise money for journalism scholarships. The president and other US leaders also generally attend.
But the gala was interrupted by the sound of gunfire, and Secret Service agents rushed the president out of the room and the hotel.
A man armed with a shotgun had fired at a Secret Service agent, an FBI official told the Reuters news agency. The agent was hit but in an area covered by protective gear and was unharmed, the official said.
US Secret Service spokesperson Anthony Guglielmi later told reporters that the officer had been released from hospital.
A reporter said that everyone was eating and socialising at the dinner and suddenly shots were heard.
“I thought it sounded like it came from behind where we were sitting, but it was quite loud. It was an echo. Quite a loud boom of at least five shots, which resonated throughout the ballroom just outside where we were,” he said.
“We don’t often get the president stepping from an assassination attempt, which is what it appears like on the face of it now, into the briefing room to give the media an update with everyone in their finest clothes,” he reported from Washington, DC.
The Hilton hotel is no stranger to assassination attempts after John Hinckley Jr’s attempted assassination of President Ronald Reagan there in 1981. That event is perhaps what the hotel is most famous for and not the annual White House correspondents dinner.
Another journalist attending the dinner said Trump seemed quite taken aback by the shooting.
“He himself initially had thought a tray had been dropped or it was gunfire, and the Secret Service agent spirited him out of the hall along with the first lady and other members of the cabinet,” he said.
He noted that Trump had made it clear that he wanted to continue the event, but the Secret Service wouldn’t allow it.
Is Trump safe?
All US federal officials, including Trump, have been declared safe.
About an hour after Trump was rushed from the event, he posted on his Truth Social platform that a “shooter had been apprehended”.
“Quite an evening in DC, Secret Service and Law Enforcement did a fantastic job,” Trump wrote.
Trump said he had been asked to leave the dinner and said it will be rescheduled.
“The First Lady, plus the Vice President, and all Cabinet members, are in perfect condition,” he said. “I have spoken with all the representatives in charge of the event, and we will be rescheduling within 30 days.”
Addressing reporters a short time later, Trump lauded the bravery of the Secret Service agent who he said “was shot from very close distance with a very powerful gun, and the vest did the job”.
“I just spoke to the officer, and he’s doing great. He’s in great shape. He is in very high spirits, and we told him we love him and respect him,” he said.
