Law enforcement is investigating how a suspect obtained a gun in the lobby where the White House Correspondents’ Dinner was held Saturday, Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said.
The suspect – who was taken into custody on Saturday nightafter being shotwhich was criticized by lawmakers, administration officials and journalists – does not cooperate with law enforcement, he said. Neither President Donald Trump nor those attending the dinner were injured during the shooting, although a Secret Service agent required hospitalization.
“We’re still understanding the security protocols that allowed him to have a gun in that hotel,” Blanche said Sunday morning during an interview with CBS’ “Face the Nation.” Speaking on ABC’s “This Week,” Blanche said she expects there will be more information about the suspect’s guns “in the coming days.”
Blanche added that law enforcement believes the suspect was targeting administration officials based on a preliminary assessment, but did not share further details.
Administration officials including Trump and Vice President JD Vance were quickly removed from the venue after gunshots rang out outside the venue, and scheduled events at the concert were later cancelled. Trump initially insisted that the show would go ahead but later said he had been told by law enforcement that the event could not go ahead as planned. He said the dinner would be rescheduled within 30 days.
As of Sunday morning, law enforcement working on the case — including the FBI, the U.S. Secret Service and local officials — had executed various search warrants, including “materials recovered from the suspect,” Blanche said. He said law enforcement officers were “extensively speaking with witnesses who know him” as officers investigated the suspect’s motives.
U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro said Saturday night that the suspect will be charged in court Monday with assaulting a government official with a deadly weapon and using a firearm during a crime of violence. Blanche said Sunday that “there are many federal charges that could be filed beyond those two charges” pending the investigation.
Accused – who hasto be recognized for many the mediaat the age of 31California residentCole Thomas Allen – took the train from California to Chicago and then the next train from Chicago to Washington, Blanche said.
Law enforcement believes the suspect entered the Washington Hilton — the venue that has for years hosted an annual gala and where a would-be assassin shot former President Ronald Reagan in 1981 — on Friday, Blanche said on CNN.
Blanche also said law enforcement understands the suspect shot a U.S. Secret Service officer who was taken to the hospital after being shot, but could not say if the officer had been released. Trump said Saturday night that the officer was “saved by the fact that he was wearing a very good bulletproof vest” and was “doing great” in the president’s last conversation with him.
Jeffery Carroll, acting chief of the Washington police department, said the suspect, who charged through the security checkpoint, had “a shotgun, a handgun and multiple knives” in his possession.
“Look, this is not about, in my mind, changing the law or making the law more restrictive about gun ownership,” Blanche said. “It appears he bought these guns a few years ago. We don’t know how the guns ended up in DC’s possession.”
Still, the acting attorney general was insisting that Saturday night’s findings constituted a “huge success story” for law enforcement, though he said law enforcement would make adjustments as needed.
Trump, meanwhile, took to social media Sunday morning to insist that the shooting “wouldn’t have happened” in the new White House he’s building to replace the demolished East Wing, adding, “It can’t be built fast enough!”
“Nothing should be allowed to interfere with its construction,” Trumphe wrote on Truth Socialcriticizing a lawsuit seeking to halt the project until Trump gets Congressional approval for the $400 million ballroom. Federal appeals courtdecided earlier this monthThe work can continue on the site after the judge of the lower courthe ordered the administrationstop construction.
Oz Pearlman, the intellectual who was scheduled to perform at Saturday night’s concert, described the event as chaotic in an interview Sunday morning on CNN’s “State of the Union.” Pearlman — who was performing on stage for Trump, first lady Melania Trump and White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt at the time of the shooting — said it was initially unclear whether the president and first lady were injured.
Pearlman said he initially thought a bomb was about to explode when law enforcement rushed to the stage to remove Trump and other officials.
“In the room, when there’s a commotion like that, you think — we’ve been in a lot of cases — is this a medical emergency? Is somebody having a heart attack? Because you heard a noise, it wasn’t gunshots. I wasn’t sure if it was a tray,” he told host Dana Bash.
Pearlman said she later saw Vance backstage, who “looked very calm” and “was very confident.”
