A man suspected of being the gunman who fired shots outside the annual White House correspondents’ dinner, causing an evacuation that included Donald Trump, has been identified as Cole Tomas Allen, 31. The incident occurred at the Washington Hilton hotel around 8:35 pm local time on Saturday evening.
Allen, a part-time teacher and video game developer, graduated from the California Institute of Technology in 2017 with a mechanical engineering degree. During his time at the university, he was a member of the Christian fellowship and the NERF club, which is known for using toy guns that shoot soft projectiles.
The university NERF group, which Allen was involved in, engaged in activities such as modifying blasters, playing various NERF games, and participating in campus building raids. In 2017, Allen was featured in a local news report for developing an emergency brake prototype for wheelchairs while he was a student at Caltech.
After earning a Master of Science in Computer Science from California State University-Dominguez Hills, Allen worked part-time as a teacher at a tutoring company called C2 Education, where he was named “teacher of the month” in December 2024. He also identified himself as a video game developer, with one of his projects being a game called Bohrdom.
The suspect is scheduled to appear in court on Monday and face charges related to using a firearm during a violent crime. This incident marks the third threat against the US President since 2024, with a previous attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania resulting in injuries to Trump and the death of a local firefighter.
