- Shots were fired April 25, 2026, during the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner in Washington, D.C., while President Donald Trump was in attendance, forcing him off stage. The suspected gunman, Cole Thomas Allen, 31, a tutor from Torrance, Calif., with advanced degrees in mechanical engineering and computer science, had no prior criminal record.
- Allen had legally purchased a .38-caliber semiautomatic pistol in 2023 and a 12-gauge shotgun in 2025. Minutes before the attack, he emailed family members identifying himself as “Friendly Federal Assassin,” apologized to unintended targets, and railed against Trump as a “pedophile, rapist, and traitor.”
- Allen is charged with attempted assassination of the president, transportation of a firearm and ammunition in interstate commerce with intent to commit a felony, and discharge of a firearm during a crime of violence. READ MORE
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