Pirro says evidence shows Allen’s shot struck Secret Service officer at White House attack

Jeanine Pirro said evidence showed buckshot from Cole Tomas Allen’s 12-gauge shotgun was intertwined with fibers from a Secret Service officer’s bulletproof vest, giving prosecutors their first public account that Allen’s shot struck the agent during the attack at the Washington Hilton.

The U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia said the evidence made it definitive that Allen fired the round that hit the officer, rejecting the lingering possibility of friendly fire. The officer was wearing a ballistic vest and was released from the hospital shortly after the shooting, with officials describing the injury as not serious because the protective gear stopped the round.

Allen, 31, faces three felony counts: attempted assassination of the president of the United States, interstate transportation of a firearm and ammunition with intent to commit a felony, and discharge of a firearm during a crime of violence. Pirro said the government planned to take the case to a grand jury on May 8, and Allen’s next court appearance is set for May 11.

The shooting unfolded at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner on April 25, 2026, where President Donald Trump was scheduled to speak before an audience that included Melania Trump, Vice President JD Vance, FBI Director Kash Patel and hundreds of journalists. Trump was evacuated after gunfire was heard outside the ballroom. Prosecutors had already said Allen fired at least once as he ran past magnetometers, but until Pirro’s remarks they had not publicly identified whose gunfire struck the officer.

That question had stayed open in court filings and public statements because prosecutors said ballistic work was still underway. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said on April 28 that the investigation remained preliminary and the exact ballistics had not yet been finalized, adding that buckshot from a weapon like Allen’s was difficult to trace because it scatters.

The Justice Department then released video on April 30 that prosecutors said showed Allen scouting the Washington Hilton on April 24 and sprinting through a security checkpoint with a shotgun in his hands on the day of the attack. Prosecutors said the footage also showed Allen raising the weapon as a Secret Service officer fired multiple 9 mm rounds at him, none of which hit him, according to NBC News.

Pirro said there was no evidence the officer’s wound came from another member of law enforcement. Allen remains at the center of a case that has become both politically charged and legally significant, with prosecutors framing it as an attempted assassination of a sitting president at one of Washington’s most visible public events.