Charges have been filed against Cole Tomas Allen, and yet there are still some significant gaps in the record. Awaiting ballistics tests, we still don’t know whether he fired the shot that struck the agent in his protective vest, although nothing indicates he didn’t.

We also don’t know exactly how his capture occurred:

… [O]fficials have still not said whether Allen … fired the shot that wounded a Secret Service agent at the scene.

Federal authorities charged Allen, 31, with transporting firearms across state lines while traveling by train from California to Washington and with discharging a firearm during the incident at the Washington Hilton, where officials said a federal agent was shot in his ballistic vest. Assistant U.S. Atty. Jocelyn Ballantine said Allen “traveled across multiple state lines with a firearm” and “attempted to assassinate the president with a 12-gauge pump-action shotgun.”

Why the train? Not necessarily to save money, because one can often find flights cheaper than the train. Perhaps he felt the firearms would be more likely to cause him trouble on a plane; although firearms are permitted in checked luggage, they must be declared.

Then there’s this :

…[T]he defendant rushed the screening checkpoint on the Terrace Level of the Washington Hilton with a raised shotgun,” the federal prosecutors alleged. A law enforcement source told The Times that Allen fell as he ran after losing balance, and that is when officers were able to jump on top of him, pinning him down and disarmed him.

So perhaps in his haste, eagerness, and anxiety, Allen fell, giving the officers their opportunity. I know it can be difficult to hit a running target. But still, officers can’t expect all assailants to be so obliging as to fall (I also saw some newsperson saying he tripped on something, but I don’t know whether that is true).

And then there’s this:

Moments before he charged, the suspect appeared to enter a doorway near where several TSA and Secret Service agents were gathered and two magnetometers had been set up.

A law enforcement officer with a K-9 noticed Cole and followed him toward the side room.

However, the officer did not enter the room and eventually turned his back to the doorway.

Allen emerged from the doorway seconds later in a full sprint and fired at security personnel, according to authorities.

Excuse me but, WTF? This account may be in line with that of an alleged eyewitness whose story I wasn’t sure was reliable, but which I read a few days ago:

A White House Correspondents’ Dinner volunteer said the suspected gunman appeared to assemble a “long” weapon in a lightly monitored area near the terrace-level entrance before opening fire and rushing toward the ballroom.

The witness, Helen Mabus, a volunteer working the event who said she is from Harrisburg, Pa., described a “makeshift room” near the entrance where bar carts were being stored and where “there was no security” at the time.

She may or may not be describing the same thing, but it’s curious.

Also:

The night of the alleged assassination attempt, Allen walked toward the security checkpoint wearing what appeared to be a black trench coat, black pants, black shirt and red tie.

However, it did not appear he was wearing the trench coat when he emerged from the side room and rushed the officers.

I assume he was wearing the trench coat to conceal the weapon, whether assembled or unassembled at that point. Then he ditched the coat for his run.

Here’s some video of Allen casing the joint the night before, and then on the night of the dinner walking down a hall wearing a trenchcoat and then running through the metal detector without the coat and while holding the shotgun:

And this appears to be the footage with the dog:

Disturbing.