What we know about the Trump press gala shooting

US President Donald Trump and other attendees at a glitzy media gala in Washington made a hasty exit Saturday night after gunshots were fired.

As details continue to emerge and investigations are underway, here is what we know about the shooting:

What happened in the ballroom?

Shots were heard after the welcoming speech at the annual dinner of the White House Correspondents’ Association being held at the Washington Hilton Hotel, according to AFP reporters and other witnesses.

Tactical security teams with guns drawn took position on the stage where Trump was seated alongside his wife Melania, Vice President JD Vance and other cabinet members, who were swiftly evacuated.

Hundreds of guests in black tie in the ballroom took cover under tables and later made their way into the hotel lobby and then outdoors as the event was postponed.

Authorities said no dignitaries or gala guests were hurt.

How did the shooting unfold?

A “sole gunman” rushed through a security checkpoint in the hotel lobby just outside the ballroom where the dinner was taking place around 8:36 pm (0036 GMT), according to authorities.

Trump shared footage on his Truth Social platform which appeared to show the suspect charging at the checkpoint before being swarmed by officers.

“He was armed with a shotgun, a handgun and multiple knives,” Metropolitan Police Department interim chief Jeffery Carroll told reporters.

Law enforcement exchanged gunfire with the suspect and “intercepted that individual.”

A uniformed Secret Service officer was “struck in his vest” and taken to hospital, but was doing well, Carroll said.

The suspect was not hit by gunfire, but was taken to a hospital to be evaluated.

He was in custody and due to be arraigned on Monday in a federal court.

The detained man, who officials believed was staying as a guest at the hotel, is thought to be the only suspect in the case.

He is facing charges on two counts: using a firearm during a crime of violence, and assault on a federal officer using a dangerous weapon, US Attorney Jeanine Pirro said.

Who is the suspect?

Trump shared photos of the suspected shooter, shirtless and in handcuffs facedown on a carpeted floor, in what appears to be the Hilton lobby.

Authorities are yet to publicly confirm his identity, but multiple US news outlets reported that the suspect was a 31-year-old named Cole Tomas Allen from Torrance, California.

FBI agents were seen outside a two-story residence in Torrance late Saturday, according to an AFP photographer.

“My impression is he was a lone wolf,” Trump said, adding that the suspect’s motivation was not yet clear but he believed the gunman was “sick.”

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.

A person named Cole Allen graduated from the California Institute of Technology in 2017 with an undergraduate degree, the university told the New York Times.

C2 Education, a test-prep company, named Allen as “teacher of the month” in an Instagram post dated December 2024.

Were there security failures?

Questions swirled regarding the security at the reception and how a gun was brought into the hotel.

Attendees pointed out that there was a magnetometer placed outside the ballroom, but there was no such screening before that or at the entrance to the hotel itself.

Trump initially said it was “not a particularly secure building,” but later said the ballroom where the event was being held was not breached by the gunman and was “very, very secure.”

The checkpoint that the suspect tried to charge past was “right outside the ballroom,” authorities said.

“Because that checkpoint worked, there was no one who was injured,” Pirro said.

“We’ll go through video across the hotel to figure out how the gun got in, how it got down here,” Carroll added.

According to Trump, the security services did a “much better job than Butler,” where he was the target of an assassination attempt in 2024 during a campaign rally in the state of Pennsylvania.