The shooting suspect at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner on Saturday has been identified by security officials as Cole Thomas Allen of California.According to US federal agencies, the 31-year-old gunman will be charged with two counts of “using a firearm during a crime of violence” and “assaulting a federal officer using a dangerous weapon.”
“The suspect was able to bypass the outer layer of security at the event where President Donald Trump was scheduled to speak because he was a guest at the hotel.Teacher of the monthSocial media posts that appear to be identical to Allen show that he is a teacher and amateur video game developer.According to the Associated Press, a May 2025 profile photo of Cole Thomas Allen of Torrence, California, appears to match the man’s appearance in a photo of the alleged attacker in custody that President Donald Trump released on Saturday night.A photo posted on the social networking site LinkedIn shows him wearing a cap and gown after graduating with a master’s degree in computer science from California State University-Dominguez Hills.His LinkedIn profile says he earned a bachelor’s degree in 2017 in mechanical engineering from the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, and mentioned his involvement there in a Christian student fellowship and a campus group that battled Nerf guns.
A local ABC station in Los Angeles included an interview with Allen during his final year in college as part of a story about new technologies to help people as they age. He also developed a prototype of a new type of emergency brake for wheelchairs.Furthermore, Allen also contributed $25 to a Democratic political action committee to support Kamala Harris for president in 2024, according to federal campaign finance records.Allen’s online biography says he has worked for the past six years at C2 Education, a company that provides admissions counseling and test preparation services to aspiring college students. A 2024 post on the company’s Facebook page listed Allen as the company’s Teacher of the Month. The company did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment Saturday night.Allen also posted that he had developed a video game for the Steam platform based on molecular chemistry.
A post bearing Allen’s name stated that he was working on developing a new “top-down shooting” combat game set in outer space.“sick person”Trump posted pictures of the shooter on the social media platform, showing him lying on the ground with his hands tied behind his back.During his speech at a press conference after the shooting incident, Trump said that the suspect was armed with multiple weapons before the Secret Service stopped him.“A man attacked a security checkpoint armed with multiple weapons, and was brought down by some very brave members of the Secret Service…
One officer was shot, but was saved…the vest did the job. Trump said: I just spoke to the officer, and he’s doing great.The president also said that charges would be filed soon.He added: “I expect charges will be filed soon. The charges should be self-explanatory, given the behavior, but as you will hear, there will be multiple charges surrounding the shooting around firearms possession and anything else we can bring to this man.”Trump described the suspect as a “sick person,” said he had been arrested and warned that similar acts could be attempted again.The US President said: “The man has been arrested. They are going to his apartment. I think he lives in California and he is a sick person… I said, it is very important, that we will do it again in the next 30 days, and we will make it bigger, better and more beautiful.”
