New facts about the Correspondents’ Dinner shooter, but gaps remain
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.
An article with images of the Secret Service agents firing at Allen as he charged into the hallway. You also see in the last image one of the agents doubling over. Apparently, he was the one that was hit in his vest by Allen. Allen was firing a shotgun so it should be easy to determine what kind of weapon fired the round that hit the agent.
https://www.foxnews.com/us/surveillance-photos-show-secret-service-agents-firing-trumps-alleged-would-assassin-inside-dc-hotel
Bob Wilson:
I agree.
So if his Democrat lawyers can convince the DC jury that he didn’t shoot the cop, will he just be guilty of carrying a weapon in a gun free zone and walk free with time served?
I’m thinking that K9 human needs a new job. Dog twigged to an anomaly and he ignored it. Uh…twice. Holy buckets!
Agree that last seconds of this video clearly show Allen shooting the SS agent, who doubles over, backs up, then draws his gun and does what he’s there to do!
Yay!!! toxic masculinity!
https://www.cnbc.com/2026/04/30/cole-allen-video-trump-attempted-assassination-pirro.html
(You can also note in videos posted about the dog–which was clearly pulled away from the closet/storage room that Allen entered to get his gun by his handler–oops!—- a female agent and feamle cops running AWAY from the scene, if you want to be so bold as to mention it.)
Here’s the dog handler video:
https://x.com/CollinRugg/status/2050011644881752124
Looks like there is some room for improvement here.
I’d say the dog handler and the guy standing furthest forward, with his hand on the open case on the floor, totally flunked. The dog handler basically didn’t do his job. If the dog twigs, you stop the man and verify that he belongs there or not.
The guy by the case simply is off in la la land, not paying attention to anything and the guy is by him before he notices anything, then has a hard time pulling his gun out.
Not sure how the agent firing in the foreground missed the assailant at point blank range, and also how this guard didn’t hit one of his friendlies beyond the bad guy with at least two of his shots, including the guy dawdling at the open case. Very poor fire discipline.
I also wonder how the heck almost none of these guards heard the guy running towards them until it was too late. The open case dawdler must have been deaf, for instance. Any Hilton I’ve been in the floors are definitely not sound proof. Only the guy who seems to have taken the shotgun blast actually saw the guy running towards him. And the dog handler actually turned around as the assassin started running and must have said “oh shit”. But, weirdly IMO, turns away to, I guess, secure the dog before moving forward. I wonder why he didn’t send the dog after the guy?
Good thing the guy tripped, eh?
There’s a lot to learn from that video… for the President’s security team and for LE covering an important event.
Also, expect the unexpected.
Looks like handler approached with dog to check him out, as is his job. Dog didn’t find anything, handler says “Have a good night” and walks away.
We are not reassured.
Allan Cole’s choice of transport by train is easily understood. Only checked baggage receives screening, either visual inspection or by a device.
Carry on luggage — and the amount permitted is huge — does not get screening or inspection, unless untoward exposure of a threat or contra-ban occurs. And this typically occurs only during train travel, not before boarding.
Thus, Allan used the AmTrack trains to carry out his assassination mission in secret.
Bus travel could have been used. But closer quarters and typical unloading of bags checked was a risk, especially with a shot gun which is pretty lengthy, he avoided by train.
Secret Service Director Sean Curran said that the officer who was shot fired five times, so he couldn’t be the agent with his hand on the case, who clutched his chest, since he didn’t fire his pistol. Also, did his shirt look too trim to be wearing armor under it?
As noted above, most of the team in the room in the video were looking everywhere except where the perp came from, and seemed to be mentally unfocused.
It’s also interesting that in the slowed-down videos the perp is just a blur when the officer shoots at him.
I presume there is video which shows the entire event, but only these portions have been publicly released.
https://www.foxnews.com/us/surveillance-photos-show-secret-service-agents-firing-trumps-alleged-would-assassin-inside-dc-hotel
IMO, the screening, including the magnet thingy, should be in a space not leading directly to the protected space. IOW, in a hall perpendicular to the hall leading the partygoers into the fun.
That would, I suggest, be ideal since it would provide an additional obstacle to a potential perp and not allow a line of fire into the party/reception, whatever.
Whether the Hilton was laid out to allow for such an arrangement is unclear.
And then, around the corner, another funnel with agents on both sides, some hear, some back. The funnel would not be a light rope or other polite reminder to keep in line, but a solid obstacle to getting out of line until cleared.
So nobody asked Aubrey. However, the total resources wouldn’t be that much greater than we saw in this footage. And apparently there were some in place where they didn’t show up in the footage.
Been suggested that training include unsuspected Events during otherwise routine training exercises. A door slams open during a boring lecture and some guy comes running in screaming. Shuts down in about twenty seconds. Okay, guys, what did you just do to react?
@Richard Aubrey: he screening, including the magnet thingy, should be in a space not leading directly to the protected space.
It was. The shooter was stopped on a different floor from the ballroom.
If I were that hound I’d be mighty pissed at my partner/handler.
Dude cost me an invite to the WH, where Trump would have put a medal of honor around my neck and shaken my paw.
On global TV.
+ Related (Sasha Stone nails it again):
“The Would-Be Massacre That Was a Wake-Up Call for the Press;
“But as usual, they hit the snooze button.”—
https://www.sashastone.com/p/the-would-be-massacre-that-was-a
H/T Powerline blog.
The shooter did not get close to the President. Based on information, there was another set of stairs that Allen would have had to traverse before reaching the ballroom. He still would have had to make it through the crowd to get close enough to shoot. He apparently tripped himself running and was then piled on.
I think we need to call him the “polite assassin”. He chose a poor weapon to shoot the president because he didn’t want any collateral damage. Anybody tried running with a shotgun– or for that matter any long gun?
Even if he had gotten to the ballroom, getting through the crowd close enough to use a shotgun with buckshot would have been impossible. It took the secret service a long time to get to the president to protect/remove him.
The criticism might be the rather nonchalant position of the secret service agent while they were taking down the metal detectors. Your job was to be the sentry guarding that entrance. The assassin was late to the ball and you dropped the ball.
@ Barry > “Sasha Stone nails it again”
Neo posted a discussion on that tomorrow.
😉
If that officer who was facing Cole as he ran through the detector was able to draw his weapon and fire off 5 shots, that is a credible fast response to that threat. But is there any reporting yet as to where those shots went? We would hope a few landed on Cole’s protective vest as a center mass shot. But several such shots would seem to have had enough kinetic energy to at least cause Cole to wobble even more than he did? But I suppose in that second or two that LEO did not really have time to also judge what or who was down range behind Cole. But I think the one agent was on the floor working on the detector laying on the floor? so possibly he was out of the line of fire.
From the video it did seem possible the agent with his hand casually on the barrier perpendicular to the entry path might have been able to do a body-block on Cole as he ran by, but that was a very fast two seconds or less?
Niketas. I presumed screening would, you know, screen out the bad guys. Not just…be there.
In any event, given the apparent complexity of the hotel’s layout, the last obstacle should have been more wary. Somebody might find yet another way not necessarily on the diagrams provided.
@Richard Aubrey:I presumed screening would, you know, screen out the bad guys. Not just…be there.
It did. He was not even able to get to the right floor. No single layer of security is infallible, and that’s the point of having multiple layers of security. There was not just one layer operating that day, and the specific criticism you made was based on a false impression you had. Your false impression was enabled by sensationalist and misleading reporting, and it takes a lot of reading to dig up simple facts that cut through the noise.
For a Caltech engineering grad, his plan to run through a couple checkpoints then through a large crowded room to reach Trump and his other targets while carrying a long rifle seems … rather optimistic.
He didn’t even make it all the way through the upstairs checkpoint, in spite of a rather lackadaisical response from the SS and LEOs.
Who were those three uniformed women leaning against the wall who melted away towards the back after the firing started?
The dog probably could sense or smell something was off with this guy. Probably fear or anxiety. Might have even smelled gun related chemicals on him. A Hoppe’s No. 9 detector.
@huxley:while carrying a long rifle seems … rather optimistic.
I have not read that he had a rifle, but a shotgun and pistol, which of course raised the needed optimism significantly. He was expecting to get quite close, evidently.
A nice summary of Cole Allen at Caltech and immediately after.
Damnit. There was so much right with that kid.
https://pasadenanow.com/main/caltech-graduate-charged-in-white-house-correspondents-dinner-shooting
@Niketas Choniates: I have not read that he had a rifle, but a shotgun and pistol, which of course raised the needed optimism significantly.
Moer of the usual nitpicking.
First, it has been officially described as a long gun. Ok. I said long rifle.
_____________________________________
At approximately 8:40 p.m., Allen approached a security checkpoint on the Terrace Level of the hotel leading to the hotel’s ballroom. Allen ran through the magnetometer holding a long gun.
https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/suspect-white-house-correspondents-dinner-shooting-charged-attempt-assassinate-president
_____________________________________
Second, even if a shotgun is somewhat shorter than what you wouid call a long gun, how does that raise his optimism significantly”?
He still has to get through presumably at least two checkpoints, a set of stairs and a crowded room to get to his targets.
I would like to think a Caltech could come up with a better plan and better odds.
@huxley:a long gun. Ok. I said long rifle.
Pretty big difference between “rifle” and “shotgun”, yeah.
how does that raise his optimism significantly
Not what I said: “raised the needed optimism significantly”
Because he needed to get much closer to accomplish anything. Trump’s other two assassins used rifles because they planned to be some distance away, Routh at about 400 meters and Crooks from about 130 meters.
I’m not disagreeing with you about what Allen needed to do and that it wasn’t a very good plan, just pointing out that with his chosen weapons the plan was even more “optimistic” than you had supposed.
I’m not a gun guy, and my ballroom murder experience is pretty limited, so couldn’t tell you if it would be better to have a rifle for that situation or what it ought to be if so. From what I’m reading Allen doesn’t seem to have been much of a gun guy either.
It would have been an abominal atrocity if he had only used a fully automatic AR-48 assault rifle with the under barrel grenade launcher and bayonet. (sarc x 22)
Or a 3D printed ghost gun; a M2-HB. He could have run with that (sarc x 11).
An engineering guy is going to use a fiberoptic drone with explosives sooner or later and that’s going to be a real problem.
What has been displayed is a Maverick 88 12-gauge pump-action with a folding stock and 18.5”-20” barrel list price $320-390. Overall length 39.5 + inches.
Not clear as to exact model.
Supposedly, the shooter was using smaller shot to limit the carnage (he claimed?) the story I saw said #8 which is absurdly small if true. But reporters can pretty ignorant so who knows.
By comparison, a Ruger Mini-14 Tactical version with a fixed stock is slightly under 37 inches.
I read he was using buckshot, which would be #00 or #0. #8 is used for shooting trap. He would have to be point blank to be effective. The stock folded, which would reduce the length to about 28″ overall.
There is more scrutiny purchasing any semi-automatic rifle and a longer waiting period. It’s possible he thought that might make him more likely to be flagged. Which wasn’t likely.
You fire slugs to kill people. Heavy shot kills small creatures, presuming you get a few into it at a decent range. For people, you need to be up close or maybe get a buckshot into the eye or heart.
On the other hand, you can hit a lot of people at the cost of not killing any.
But if you clear the way in that fashion, maybe you get up close for the concentrated shot pattern. Presuming you’re faster than the presumed target.
Unless his idea is to first-blood a lot of important people, looked like a wasted trip at best.
I don’t do shot guns but…what’s the max number of rounds you can get in a pump-action magazine? So…bust through the door, couple of shot rounds to get people out of the way, charge the target with the rest slug rounds….. Boy choose the tough way to accomplish anything.
Suppose Allen had shown up at that exact time, walking like an ordinary latecomer. Was the magnet thingy out of action at that point? Would he have been patted down instead?
His Mossberg Maverick 88 is either 5+1 or 7+1 depending on model. Based on the picture of the weapon, 7+1, 7 in the tube and 1 in the chamber. A skilled shooter or John Wick can reload about as fast as they can fire.
Look at this guy
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/6bV1wlWlVGA
Chases. Thanks. Can’t imagine how that would go when the adrenalin’s running and somebody’s drawing a bead on you,