Gunman Arrested After White House Correspondents Dinner Shooting, Secret Service Injured

Authorities said the suspect in the Washington Hilton shooting will face three counts and be arraigned Monday after a late-night attack that injured a Secret Service agent and forced President Donald Trump out of the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner. Officials identified the suspect as Cole Allen, 31, of Torrance, California.

The shooting began around 8:35 p.m. ET on Saturday, April 25, 2026, when a lone gunman charged a Secret Service checkpoint in the hotel lobby area armed with a shotgun, a handgun and multiple knives. Guests took cover as agents escorted Trump and members of his cabinet from the ballroom. A Secret Service agent was taken to a local hospital, and the suspect was also hospitalized for evaluation.

Trump, attending the dinner for the first time as president, later said law enforcement "acted quickly and bravely" and said the dinner would be rescheduled within 30 days. Officials said preliminary information suggested the suspect acted alone, but they have not publicly laid out a motive.

The White House Correspondents’ Association said its annual dinner is its main source of revenue, funding work that includes support for reporters covering the president and scholarships for future journalists. The 2026 event had been expected to draw about 2,600 attendees, underscoring the scale of the interruption at one of Washington’s signature political gatherings.

WHCA president Weijia Jiang, who was seated near Trump, said after the shooting that she was thinking of her family and that "nobody should have to feel that way." The episode turned a high-profile dinner into a security emergency and focused attention on the checkpoint incident, the Secret Service response and the charges now expected in federal court.