I stayed at the Hilton without metal detectors: How the suspect slipped through security and carried out a shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner – The

There was panic on Saturday evening at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner, held to celebrate freedom of the press, after an armed man breached security at the Washington Hilton Hotel and exchanged gunfire with law enforcement before being taken into custody.Investigators believe that the suspect was able to reach a location close to the event due to gaps in the external security layers. Authorities said he was staying at the hotel, allowing him to enter as a guest and bypass external checkpoints.

Access was restricted after the hotel was closed to the public from 2 p.m. before dinner at 8 p.m., and was limited to hotel guests, ticket holders, invited attendees, and those holding official documents from the White House Correspondents’ Association.Officials also said there were no metal detectors at the hotel entrances, and only a secure perimeter was set up near the hall where the event was being held.One volunteer described how the suspect used an unsecured area inside the hotel to prepare for the attack. He was in a “makeshift room” near a porch-level entrance where bar carts were stored and “there was no security” at the time, Helen Mabus, as quoted by the New York Post, said.

“He was in that room […] “He took it out of a bag or something,” she said, adding that the weapon “was long” and “didn’t look like a traditional gun.”She said he was partially out of sight of security when he was holding the weapon and then “putting it together.” […] I ran towards the stairs to go down to the hall.”Jeff Carroll of the Metropolitan Police Department said the suspect “attacked a U.S. Secret Service checkpoint” while carrying a rifle, a handgun and several knives.

He was thrown to the ground and handcuffed, and appeared to be “lonely armed.”The suspect has been identified as Cole Thomas Allen, 31, of Torrance, California, according to the Associated Press. He is charged with felony firearm and assault charges, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia said.Security for this annual event is usually tight when the president attends. Inside the hall, further measures were taken, as the Secret Service maintained another perimeter around the president that included a barrier separating him from the others seated at the main table from the rest of the attendees.

Agents were positioned in front of the platform and in its wings, along with heavily armed counterattack teams ready to respond.Law enforcement officials said their “multi-layered protection” worked as planned, even as the incident highlighted how the suspect was able to move through less secure areas before reaching the internal checkpoint.Trump said the incident underscores why he wants to build a $400 million ballroom on the White House grounds equipped with the latest security features, a project currently subject to litigation.