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The suspect in the shooting incident just outside the White House Correspondents’ Dinner Saturday night is a trained mechanical engineer working as a tutor in Torrance who traveled across the country to perpetrate “as much damage as he could,” sources and officials said.
The shooting sparked chaos inside the Hilton hotel ballroom, which was packed with thousands of journalists as well as President Donald Trump and members of his Cabinet.
What we know about Cole Allen
Law enforcement sources identified the suspect as Cole Allen, 31, of Torrance. Trump, in a news conference after the incident, said the gunman was captured on surveillance video sprinting towards a Secret Service security checkpoint.
Local authorities said the suspect was tackled by law enforcement after an exchange of gunfire. Interim D.C. Metropolitan Police Department Chief Jeffrey Carroll told reporters that the suspect was armed with a shotgun, a handgun and multiple knives. Carroll said the preliminary information is that he was a “lone actor.”
Law enforcement officials briefed on the investigation said that Allen was declining to answer questions but allegedly made some non-specific reference to targeting administration officials.
Authorities have not yet specified a motive in the shooting. But U.S. Attorney for D.C. Jeanine Pirro told reporters at a press briefing Saturday night, “It is clear, based upon what we know so far, that this individual was intent on doing as much harm and as much damage as he could.”
According to his LinkedIn profile, Allen graduated in 2017 from CalTech, where he listed memberships in the school’s Christian Fellowship and Nerf Club. He graduated with a degree in mechanical engineering before earning a master’s degree from Cal State-Dominguez Hills in 2025, the profile said.
Allen characterized himself on LinkedIn as an “Indie Game Developer” who created a video game he described as “a skill-based, non-violent asymmetrical fighting game loosely derived from a chemistry model that is itself loosely based on reality,” according to the game’s Steam page.
Allen’s current employer, C2 Education, named Allen its “Teacher of the Month” last year, according to a post on LinkedIn. C2 Education and its CEO did not immediately respond to News’ requests for comment.
Allen is not registered with any political party; his voter registration in Los Angeles County lists him as “no party preference,” according to voter registration records viewed by News.
FBI swarms suspect’s Torrance home
Eyewitness News was on the ground and watched as FBI agents arrived outside of the suspect’s home on Gramercy Avenue in Torrance. There was a very large law enforcement scene in the residential neighborhood, including FBI agents in tactical gear and armored vehicles.
At one point, AIR7 video appeared to show occupants of the home speaking with federal agents on the front porch. Later, it appeared spotlights were focused on a second-story window and the front door.
Agents finally made entry shortly before midnight.
Before agents arrived, 7 Reporter Kevin Ozebek was able to knock on the door where authorities believe Allen lives. No one answered, but a neighbor said he often sees Allen riding his moped in the neighborhood.
“I walked the dog over here, and I got caught up in this circus of helicopters, media, and neighbors,” said Erik Orrie, who lives nearby.
“The fact that his home is here doesn’t define the city of Torrance this way. The action of one person does not represent the entire city,” Torrance Mayor George Chen told 7 at the scene. He noted that Allen is not a teacher at a Torrance school, and is instead a tutor for a private company.
What’s next for the suspect?
Allen, who was taken to the hospital after he was subdued, will be arraigned on Monday, Pirro added. He sustained a knee injury in the takedown, law enforcement officials said, but is expected to be OK.
Pirro said Allen is being charged with using a firearm during a crime of violence and assault on a federal officer using a dangerous weapon. She said additional charges could follow.
More details on White House Correspondents’ Dinner shooting
A Secret Service member was shot during the incident but the bullet hit the agent’s protective vest, Trump said after the incident. The president said he spoke with the agent and he was in good spirits.
Shortly before the White House press briefing, Trump posted a video showing agents subduing Allen, who he said “charged a security checkpoint armed with many weapons.”
“He started running from 50 yards, and he was fast. He was like a blur on tape,” Trump said of the suspect.
Carroll told reporters that police believe Allen fired at Secret Service agents, but that investigators were collecting shell casings and waiting on ballistics evidence to confirm.
When asked if the president was the target, Carroll said it was too early to tell. “What his specific motivation was, we can’t say at this point,” he said.
Law enforcement officials said that Allen is believed to have booked a room in the Washington Hilton, where the dinner took place, in early April.
Preliminary information suggests that the suspect traveled from Los Angeles to Chicago and then on to Washington, D.C., law enforcement officials said. Investigators say they are piecing together the suspect’s movements and contacts over recent days, prior to checking in to the Hilton on Saturday.
Searches connected to the suspect were ongoing in Southern California and Washington, D.C., on Sunday morning, law enforcement officials briefed on the investigation told News.
Investigators retrieved Allen’s phone and other devices and were planning to access them as soon as they secured search warrants, the officials said.
News’ Lauren Minore, Luke Barr, Nicholas Kerr, Ivan Pereira, Aaron Katersky, Josh Margolin, John Santucci, Michelle Stoddart, Lucien Bruggeman, Oren Oppenheim, Katherine Faulders and Peter Charalambous contributed to this report.
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