Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, on Thursday shared video showing a suspected gunman shooting a Secret Service agent while breaching a security checkpoint at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner at the Washington Hilton on April 25.
The nearly six-minute video opens with footage of the suspect, Cole Tomas Allen, 31, casing areas inside the hotel the night before the incident. Allen, who had traveled to Washington from Torrance, California, was staying at the hotel.
The footage then shifts to the night of the incident, capturing an indoor security checkpoint near the ballroom. President Donald Trump, first lady Melania Trump, Vice President JD Vance, several Cabinet members and high-profile lawmakers were in attendance, along with members of the media.
The suspect suddenly emerges from a door and runs into the frame, armed with what appears to be a shotgun. He raises and fires the weapon at close range at a Secret Service agent. The agent, wearing body armor, is hit but returns fire. Other officers quickly draw their weapons and converge on the suspect, who is apprehended unharmed out of the frame.
"Today, we are releasing video already provided to U.S. District Court showing Cole Allen shoot a U.S. Secret Service officer during his attempt to assassinate the President at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner," Pirro wrote on X. "There is no evidence the shooting was the result of friendly fire. The video also shows Allen casing the area in the Hilton Hotel the day before the attack.
"My office along with the @FBI will continue this extensive investigation to bring Cole Allen to justice."
Allen made his first court appearance Monday and was charged with attempted assassination of the president; interstate transportation of a firearm and ammunition with intent to commit a felony; and discharging a firearm during a violent crime. He did not enter a plea.
A source familiar with the investigation previously told CBS News that six shots were fired when the gunman charged the security checkpoint. The source said the suspect fired one shot and the Secret Service agent fired five, after being struck in his bulletproof vest.
Michael Katz ✉
Michael Katz is a Newsmax reporter with more than 30 years of experience reporting and editing on news, culture, and politics.
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