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A gunman charged a Secret Service checkpoint at the White House Correspondents' Association dinner at the Washington Hilton Saturday evening.
He fired a shotgun that struck a uniformed Secret Service officer protected by a bulletproof vest, prompting the evacuation of U.S. President Donald Trump, Melania Trump, and hundreds of cabinet officials and guests from the ballroom as the annual gala was canceled.
The suspect, Cole Thomas Allen, 31, of Torrance, California, was taken into custody.
Trump described the sequence of events at a White House press conference.
"A man charged a security checkpoint armed with multiple weapons, and he was taken down by some very brave members of the Secret Service. One officer was shot, but saved by the fact that he was wearing a very good bulletproof vest. He was shot from a 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," Trump said.
Surveillance video released by Trump on Truth Social showed the suspect sprinting through a screening area before agents drew their weapons.
DC Mayor Muriel Bowser said the gunman rushed the checkpoint in the hotel lobby.
Washington interim police chief Jeffery Carroll said the suspect was armed with a shotgun, a handgun and multiple knives and appeared to have been a guest at the hotel.
Carroll said the checkpoint where the suspect was apprehended "was there for a reason, and it worked."
Agence France-Presse (AFP) journalists inside the ballroom described chaos, cries of "Get down! Stay down!" guests diving under tables, plates crashing to the floor, the band stopping and tactical teams with weapons drawn storming the stage where Trump had been seated before being rushed off through a back curtain.
Cabinet members, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, were pushed to the ground by security and evacuated one by one.
U.S. media identified the suspect as Cole Thomas Allen, 31, of Torrance, California.
Trump said he was "a sick person, a very sick person" and a "lone wolf."
The suspect was transported to a hospital for evaluation.
His room at the hotel was secured as part of the investigation.
U.S. Attorney for DC Jeanine Pirro said the suspect would face charges of using a firearm during a crime of violence and assault on a federal officer using a dangerous weapon.
"The defendant will be arraigned on Monday in federal district court," she said.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said additional charges were expected.
FBI Director Kash Patel said the bureau would "thoroughly" examine the suspect's background.
When asked whether the incident was tied to the Iran war, Trump said he did not think so based on current information but acknowledged, "When you do things like that, you become a target. If I wasn't doing that, I guess I'd be a lot less of a target, but I'm honored to be. It's not going to deter me from winning the war in Iran."
He said the event reinforced his call for the White House ballroom under construction: "It's drone proof, it's bulletproof glass. We need the ballroom. That's why Secret Service, that's why the military are demanding it."
Secret Service Director Sean Curran said, "Tonight we saw exactly what our brave men and women do every day to protect our protectees. That individual, when he charged a checkpoint, was apprehended. It shows that our multi-layered protection works."
Trump said the dinner would be rescheduled: "We're going to do it again. We're not going to let anybody take over our society."
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