Running Gunman Was Tackled by Law Enforcement Near Security Checkpoint

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Running Gunman Was Tackled by Law Enforcement Near Security Checkpoint

The gunman did not make it inside the hotel ballroom where President Trump, top officials and hundreds of journalists had gathered for dinner.

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Security at the Washington Hilton on Saturday.

Credit...

Salwan Georges for The New York Times

By

Devlin Barrett

and

Maggie Haberman

April 25, 2026

Updated

11:50 p.m. ET

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Shortly after the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner began on Saturday around 8 p.m., a gunman was confronted and tackled by law enforcement officers near a security checkpoint of the Washington Hilton.

A security video posted online by President Trump showed the man running past a security checkpoint, with a swarm of law enforcement officials in pursuit. The man taken into custody was Cole Tomas Allen, 31, of Torrance, Calif., according to multiple law enforcement officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to disclose the information.

The authorities said the man, who did not make it into the large ballroom where Mr. Trump, top administration officials and hundreds of journalists had gathered for dinner, was carrying a shotgun, handgun and knives. The head of Washington’s police force said that investigators believed he fired at least once, and that officials were reviewing ballistics evidence and shell casings.

The suspect was tackled to the ground and handcuffed, and was not shot in the incident, the police said. The gunman had been staying at the hotel as a guest, and after his arrest was taken to a local hospital for evaluation, said the interim chief of the Metropolitan Police Department, Jeffery Carroll.

“At this point it does appear he is a lone actor, a lone gunman,” Chief Carroll said.

The U.S. attorney in Washington, Jeanine Pirro, said that the gunman would be charged with using a firearm during a crime of violence, and with assault on a federal officer using a dangerous weapon. She said additional charges would likely be filed later.

A Secret Service agent was shot in his protective vest and in good condition, Mr. Trump told reporters at a White House news conference later in the evening. The authorities were still working to establish exactly how that officer had been shot.

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