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US authorities believe the alleged shooter at the Washington Hilton on Saturday evening was targeting Donald Trump and other administration officials, acting US attorney-general Todd Blanche said on Sunday.
Blanche told CBS News that federal investigators were “still looking into” the shooter’s motivations for the attack, but said they believed he had been “targeting members of the administration” and acted alone.
Officials believe the alleged shooter travelled from Los Angeles to the US capital by train via Chicago and that he had purchased two firearms in recent years, Blanche said.
The suspect was not co-operating with the investigation, but was still set to be formally charged in federal court on Monday morning. US media citing police sources identified the man in custody as Cole Tomas Allen, 31.
Blanche told ABC News on Sunday that investigators had carried out search warrants at the suspect’s home in California, as well as in Washington where the shooting took place minutes after the White House correspondents’ dinner began.
Trump said the suspect had written about targeting administration officials and that his family had alerted police in Connecticut before the dinner, according to Fox News.
The US president, along with First Lady Melania Trump and JD Vance, the vice-president, were rushed offstage after gunshots were fired.
Trump was sitting at the top table at the black-tie event when multiple shots were heard at around 8.30pm.
City officials said a suspect had run towards the hotel’s ballroom entrance but was quickly apprehended by Secret Service officers.
A Secret Service officer outside the ballroom was shot in his bulletproof vest. He was treated at a local hospital and is expected to make a full recovery. There were no reports of other injuries.
The suspect was charged with two counts of using a firearm during a crime of violence and assault on a federal officer with a dangerous weapon.
Blanche said the suspect could face additional charges beyond the two outlined late on Saturday by US attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro.
The US president said at a press briefing at the White House late on Saturday night that the suspect was a “very sick person” from California and was probably a “lone wolf”. An image of the suspect was posted on Trump’s Truth Social account.
Blanche told CBS News that FBI investigators had worked through the night with the US Secret Service to collect evidence on the suspect in California and Washington.
It is a long-held tradition for US presidents to attend the annual White House correspondents’ dinner, established to celebrate the country’s press freedoms, but this was the first time Trump was there as president.
The room was filled with thousands of journalists and leading Washington figures, including senior lawmakers and cabinet members. Former Goldman chief executive Lloyd Blankfein and Meta’s Dina Powell McCormick were in the audience. Erika Kirk, the widow of Charlie Kirk, the right-wing political activist who was assassinated last year, was also in the ballroom when the shots were fired outside.
The Washington Hilton, the sprawling hotel complex in north-west DC where the incident took place, was the location of the attempted assassination of former US president Ronald Reagan in 1981.
Authorities believe the suspect checked into the hotel a day before the event. The acting attorney-general said investigators were reviewing security footage to try to understand how he brought firearms into the complex.
The incident has raised fresh questions about security for the president, who has now survived three assassination attempts.
Blanche sought to defend the Secret Service for its work in protecting the president and others in attendance, noting the suspect had been “apprehended and subdued feet away from breaking the perimeter”.
“We were all safe inside, and that is a testament to the Secret Service doing their job, and the law enforcement doing exactly what we hope and expect them to do,” Blanche said.
Buckingham Palace said on Sunday that discussions were taking place about how the failed attack would affect planning for King Charles’s state visit, due to begin on Monday.
“As you would expect, a number of discussions will be taking place throughout the day to discuss with US colleagues and our respective teams to what degree the events of Saturday evening may or may not impact on the operational planning for the Visit,” a spokesperson for the Palace said.
Sir Keir Starmer spoke to Trump on Sunday, Downing Street confirmed, saying the UK prime minister had expressed his “best wishes” to the US president and first lady.