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A man taken into custody after gunfire rang out at the White House Correspondents’ Assn. dinner on Saturday was identified by law enforcement sources as 31-year-old Cole Tomas Allen of Torrance.

Suspect movements

Law enforcement sources told The Times the FBI is examining Allen’s electronics and writings, and spoke to family and friends since the shooting seeking to determine a clear motive.

Along with his home, agents searched a 10th-floor room at the Hilton in Washington.

Acting Atty. Gen. Todd Blanche said the suspect revealed he was targeting members of the Trump administration.

Blanche said on “Meet the Press” that the man traveled from California to Chicago and then on to Washington by train.

Blanche told CNN the suspect fired two shots before being taken down by authorities.

He added the suspect “barely got past the perimeter,” Blanche said. “He was immediately subdued, and, yes, he got off a couple shots.”

The scene at the annual event in Washington turned chaotic when a man dashed toward the dining area and was met with gunfire. A hotel security guard said she saw the man with a firearm. President Trump was rushed offstage. One officer who was wearing a bulletproof vest was shot and was taken to a hospital. Trump told reporters during a news conference that the officer was “doing great.”

Weapons and chilling manifesto

The shotgun and handgun used were legally purchased in California, a law enforcement source told The Times.

Blanche said that the weapons were purchased “within the last couple of years.”

Allen’s condition is unknown. Blanche said he was taken to a hospital but was not shot.

“I don’t think he’s cooperating with investigators,” he said.

Trump, speaking on Fox News Sunday Briefing, said Allen had written a “manifesto” before the attack.

“And the guy was a sick guy. When you read his manifesto, he hates Christians,” Trump said, adding the suspect’s brother had complained to law enforcement.

Trump was asked whether he knew that Allen’s brother had notified New London Police Department about the alleged manifesto he had sent to his family members prior to the incident. Trump said he “heard” about it and wished “they would have told us about it a little bit.”

“But it is what it is,” he said.

The manifesto allegedly written by the suspect called himself a “Friendly Federal Assassin” and that he was targeted Trump administration officials “prioritized from highest-ranking to lowest,” according to a report.

The manifesto was obtained by the New York Post. Two federal sources confirmed to The Times that the document was being investigated by the FBI.

The Post quoted portions of the manifesto.

“Turning the other cheek is for when you yourself are oppressed. I’m not the person raped in a detention camp. I’m not the fisherman executed without trial,” it said. “I’m not a schoolkid blown up, or a child starved, or a teenage girl abused by the many criminals in this administration. Turning the other cheek when *someone else* is oppressed is not Christian behavior; it is complicity in the oppressor’s crimes.”

“I am no longer willing to permit a pedophile, rapist, and traitor to coat my hands with his crimes,” the document said.

Caltech background

In October 2024, Allen donated $25 to ActBlue, a tech platform that processes political donations.According to the Federal Election Commission, the money was earmarked for Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign. It was his only political donation listed on the FEC website in the past decade.

Allen, who is registered to vote with no party preference, graduated from Caltech in 2017 with a degree in mechanical engineering. While at Caltech, he was a member of the school’s Christian fellowship and the Nerf club, according to his LinkedIn profile.

He was featured in a Caltech graduation announcement posted by the university in 2017 on Facebook, which included a picture of him as an adult wearing a cardigan and red tie and a photo of him as a beaming young child holding a stuffed bunny.

Allen also earned a master’s degree in computer science at Cal State Dominguez Hills in 2025, according to a commencement program. His LinkedIn profile picture shows him sitting in his cap and gown with the caption: “pretty sure my Master’s in CS is done.” On his profile he describes himself as a game developer, engineer, scientist and teacher.

‘He was very intelligent’

Allen was named teacher of the month in December 2024 at C2 Education, which specializes in college test preparation, tutoring and academic advising. A representative for C2 Education was not immediately available for comment.

Dylan Wakayama, president of the Asian American Civic Trust, said Allen tutored several high school students who are members of the organization, a Torrance-based nonprofit.

“They thought he was very intelligent, proficient in biology, mathematics and science. They thought he was on the nicer, quiet side. They were completely shocked when I told them that this all went down,” he said.

“I think all of us in Torrance would be shocked if this is the man who attempted to kill the president of the United States,” he said

In addition to his part-time work at C2 Education, he’s also self-employed, according to his LinkedIn, identifying as an “indie game developer.”

He registered a trademark in 2019 for “Bohrdom” an atomic fighting game he created and released on Steam, an online game platform. The game is described on the website as a “skill-based, non-violent asymmetrical fighting game loosely derived from a chemistry model that is itself loosely based on reality. Alternatively, think of it as a hybrid of a bullet hell and a racing game, with the inclusion of self-propelled pinballs.”

After Allen’s arrest, local and federal law enforcement swarmed the Torrance neighborhood where he apparently lived with his family. A gaggle of reporters and neighbors loitered in the drizzle around a multi-gabled house Saturday night as a helicopter hovered overhead.

Scene in Torrance

Torrance police arrived, clearing the road and putting up police tape along part of the street. FBI officials also appeared.

A man who responded to a knock on the front door said, “Not right now,” and declined to comment further.

Colin, a 39-year-old neighbor who declined to give his last name citing privacy concerns, said the residents of the home had just moved in six months ago.

“It’s tragic,” he said. “There’s no need for violence in this day and age.”

Another man, 50, who lives across the street and declined to provide his name to a reporter, said the family was friendly.

“We see them every day and we just say hi and they’re very nice,” he said. “They’re peaceful people, they don’t make any noise and when they see you they say hi.”

Torrance Mayor George K. Chen condemned the violence in Washington.

“Our community joins the nation in condemning the violent incident that occurred in Washington, D.C., during the White House Correspondents’ Dinner,” Chen wrote on X.

He said the incident should not define the L.A. suburb.

“Torrance is a community built on respect, diversity, hard work, and public safety,” Chen said.

Times staff writer Ben Wieder contributed to this report

US President Donald Trump says suspect wrote an anti-Christian declaration and is a ‘sick guy’.

United States authorities believe a gunman who is accused of trying to storm the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner was targeting President Donald Trump and members of his administration, acting Attorney General Todd Blanche says.

Blanche said on Sunday that authorities believe the suspect travelled from California to Washington, DC, by train via Chicago.

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Shots were fired on Saturday evening near the ballroom where the dinner was being held as Secret Service agents subdued the gunman, and as Trump, top government officials and hundreds of journalists attended the event.

Investigators have not publicly named the suspect, but multiple US media outlets have identified him as Cole Tomas Allen, 31, of Torrance, California.

US media outlets reported that Allen sent a note of roughly 1,000 words to family members shortly before the attack, in which he castigated Trump as a “traitor” without mentioning him by name.

Trump told Fox News that the family of the suspect raised concerns about him to local police before the event. The president also told the TV channel that the accused man had written an anti-Christian declaration.

“The guy is a sick guy,” he told Fox News. “When you read his manifesto, he hates Christians.”

Law enforcement officials who made initial examinations of the suspect’s electronic devices and his writings believe he intended to target Trump administration members in attendance at the dinner.

“It does appear that he did, in fact, set out to target folks who work in the administration, likely including the president,” Blanche told the NBC TV network.

The suspect is believed to have bought the two firearms he carried with him on Saturday night in the past couple of years, the attorney general said. He is not being cooperative with law enforcement and is expected to face multiple charges on Monday, Blanche said.

Social media posts that appear to match the suspect show he is a highly educated tutor and amateur video game developer with multiple degrees in computer science and mechanical engineering.

Video posted by Trump showed the suspect running past security barricades as Secret Service agents ran towards him. One officer in a bullet-resistant vest was shot but was recovering, officials said. The gunman was taken into custody. He was not injured but was taken to hospital to be evaluated, police said.

Outside the hotel, members of the National Guard and other authorities flooded the area as helicopters circled overhead.

Trump used the incident to push his plans to construct a large ballroom next to the White House, a plan that has faced legal challenges and that polls indicate most Americans oppose.

“What happened last night is exactly the reason that our great Military, Secret Service, Law Enforcement and, for different reasons, every President for the last 150 years, have been DEMANDING that a large, safe, and secure Ballroom be built ON THE GROUNDS OF THE WHITE HOUSE,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform on Sunday.

The $400m ballroom has become a passion project for Trump during his second term.

Trump was unusually conciliatory after what he saw as a third attempt on his life in less than two years, calling for unity and bipartisan healing.

What you need to know today

And finally…

Key Facts

What Else Did Trump Say About The Shooting?

When O’Donnell asked Trump how worried he was when he realized a gunman had entered the area, Trump responded: “I wasn’t worried. I understand life. We live in a crazy world.” When asked about First Lady Melania Trump’s reaction to the shooting, the president said: “People don’t like having it said that they were scared. But who wouldn’t be when you have a situation like that?” The president later said, “My thought was, ‘I’ve been through this a couple of times before. She [Melania] has not to this extent. She handled it great.”

Tangent

The president also said he wants the dinner to be rescheduled, because he doesn’t want “a crazy person to be able to cancel something like this.” Trump said he hopes “we’re going to do it again…we should do it within 30 days, and they’ll have even more security, and they’ll have bigger perimeter security. It’ll be fine.” He then added: “It’s not that I want to go, I’m very busy, I don’t need that. I think it’s very important that they do it again.”

The California teacher and engineer accused of opening fire outside the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner believed it was his duty to target Trump administration officials, according to a note he sent family members about 10 minutes before the Saturday attack.

Cole Tomas Allen, 31, who lives in the Los Angeles suburb of Torrance, is the armed suspect federal authorities subdued near the packed ballroom at the Washington Hilton, where President Donald Trump and other White House officials gathered with journalists, a federal official familiar with the case told NBC News.

Follow along for live coverage

Allen was armed with a shotgun, handgun and knives when he rushed a security checkpoint and ran toward the ballroom where the black-tie dinner was being held, authorities said. He exchanged gunfire with law enforcement and was tackled to the ground.

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said on “Meet the Press” on Sunday that authorities believe “the suspect traveled by train from Los Angeles to Chicago, and then Chicago to Washington, D.C., where he checked into the hotel where the correspondents’ dinner was at in the last day or two.”

The suspect’s writings

Just moments before the attack, Allen sent family members a note apologizing to his parents, colleagues, students, bystanders and others for what he was about to do, according to a transcript of some of Allen’s writings provided to NBC News by a senior administration official.

“I don’t expect forgiveness,” Allen wrote. “Again, my sincere apologies.”

In the note, Allen criticized Trump without mentioning him by name. He wrote about lax security at the hotel, saying he had expected more.

He also described his “expected rules of engagement,” writing: “Administration officials (not including Mr. Patel): they are targets, prioritized from highest-ranking to lowest.” He appeared to be referring to FBI Director Kash Patel.

Later, he added: “I experience rage thinking about everything this administration has done.”

The senior administration official said that Allen’s brother contacted the New London Police Department in Connecticut when he received the note.

The department confirmed being contacted at around 10:49 p.m. Saturday, just over two hours after the shooting, “by an individual who expressed concern about the incident that occurred at the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner earlier in the evening.” Police contacted federal law enforcement and the caller was interviewed by authorities.

Allen’s sister told the Secret Service and Montgomery County Police after the shooting that her brother had a tendency to make radical statements and he had referred to a plan to do “something” to fix the issues with today’s world, the senior administration official said.

A Bluesky account believed to belong to Allen and verified by NBC News included recent posts or reposts that were critical of Trump and his administration’s policies, as well as of the U.S. war with Iran and Russia’s war with Ukraine.

Described as a ‘borderline genius’

The suspect, who was not shot but was taken to a local hospital, is expected to be charged in federal court on Monday. In a press briefing shortly after the attack, Trump called the suspected shooter a “whack job” and a “lone wolf.”

Public records and interviews show that Allen was a trained engineer who once interned for NASA, and participated in the Nerf club and Christian fellowship at his prestigious California university, before more recently developing video games and working as a part-time teacher.

Allen attended Pacific Lutheran High School in Gardena, California, where he was known for his inquisitiveness and intellect, a former volleyball teammate told NBC News. While he had not seen Allen recently, he remembered Allen as a “borderline genius” and “super stable.”

“Other people study hard,” said the ex-teammate, who spoke on the condition of anonymity out of fear it could affect his career. “He didn’t have to study. It would just come to him. He was really, really smart.”

The former teammate said Allen was interested in coding and computers, but he was also a very good writer and seemed to be well-versed in several subjects.

“Across the board, he was really knowledgeable, really curious,” the ex-teammate said.

The teammate said they lost touch with Allen once he went off to the California Institute of Technology, a private research university in Pasadena, California, but expressed surprise that he would be the suspect in Saturday’s attack.

“He was probably the most gentle person on the team, which makes it even more shocking that he did this,” the ex-teammate said.

Recently won ‘teacher of the month’

According to his LinkedIn profile, Allen graduated from the California Institute of Technology, commonly known as Caltech, in 2017 with a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering. The school confirmed it had a record of a student named Cole Allen who graduated in 2017.

While he was a Caltech student, Allen was a member of the winning group of the 31st annual Mechanical Engineering 72 Design Competition, which involved building robots that could play soccer. In the 2016 competition, his five-person group “Blitzkrieg Bots” competed against four other teams for the “Tridroid Cup.”

Months later, Allen was featured in a local news report for developing a prototype emergency brake for wheelchairs.

“The wheelchair brakes tend to lock the wheels, but don’t lock the chair to the ground. But with this device, that will prevent the chair from skidding at all,” Allen told ABC7 in 2017.

After graduating from Caltech, Allen worked for a year as a mechanical engineer before becoming an independent video game developer and later also a part-time teacher at C2 Education, a company dedicated to helping high schoolers get into college, according to the LinkedIn profile.

In December 2024, C2 Education named Allen its “teacher of the month.”

That same year, Allen donated $25 to ActBlue with the memo “Earmarked for Harris for President,” according to Federal Election Commission filings. In the donation, he listed his occupation as teacher for C2 Education.

“We were shocked to hear the news of the horrifying incident that transpired at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner,” C2 Education said in a statement. “We are cooperating fully with law enforcement to assist them in their investigation. Violence of any kind is never the answer.”

The LinkedIn profile indicates Allen obtained his master’s of science degree in computer science from California State University, Dominguez Hills in May 2025.

In a statement, Cal State Dominguez Hills said it had a student by the same name who graduated from the school last year. It could not confirm he was the suspect in Saturday’s shooting but said the school “unequivocally condemns this act of violence.”

“Such acts betray our values as a university and our commitment to fostering a safe environment for our campus communities,” it said.

Bin Tang, a professor in the university’s computer science department, confirmed that Allen took some of his classes and remembered him as being “a very good student” who paid attention and went to office hours.

“Soft spoken, very polite, a good fellow,” he said in a statement. “I am very shocked to see the news.”

Outside the classroom, according to his LinkedIn, Allen participated in the Caltech Christian Fellowship and Nerf Club.

Dylan Wakayama, president of the Asian American Civic Trust, told NBC News that Allen tutored one student who volunteers at his Torrance-based nonprofit, as well as the sibling of another.

“They described him as someone who was very intelligent,” Wakayama said. “They never would have expected this.”

The student who received tutoring from Allen told Wakayama that she had met with him as recently as April 14 and there were no signs that anything was amiss.

“It’s been that recent,” she texted Wakayama Saturday night, according to him. “Bio, math, English, Science, literally everything.”

“He’s so smart,” she added in the text, according to Wakayama.

According to LinkedIn, Allen began working as a “self-employed” indie game developer in September 2018, and appears to have released an “atomic fighting game” called Bohrdom on Steam that year. In a trailer for the game, according to WIRED, it is described as a “non-violent, skill-based, asymmetrical fighting game loosely based on a chemistry model that is itself loosely based on reality.”

Kept guns hidden from family

Paul Thompson, one of Allen’s neighbors, said Allen lived with his parents and rode a blue moped around the area. He said Allen was “not necessarily friendly,” but he hadn’t noticed anything off about him. He added that Allen’s “parents are nice, friendly people,” and the “father especially knows everybody.”

Records show that Allen purchased a Maverick 12 gauge shotgun in August 2025 and an Armscor Precision .38 semi-automatic pistol in October 2023.

A senior law enforcement official told NBC News those were the two weapons they recovered from Allen on Saturday night.

In the interview with law enforcement, Allen’s sister confirmed he purchased two handguns and a shotgun from CAP Tactical Firearms and kept them stored at their parents’ home, according to a senior administration official. She added that their parents were unaware that Allen was keeping the firearms in the home.

Allen regularly went to a shooting range to train with his firearms, and was a part of a group called “The Wide Awakes,” the sister said in the interview, according to the official. His sister said he attended a “No Kings” anti-Trump protest in California at some point.

In the note to his family, Allen wrote about the type of ammunition he would use in “order to minimize casualties.”

Federal charges

Jeanine Pirro, U.S. attorney for Washington, D.C., said the suspect would be charged with two counts of using a firearm during a crime of violence and a second crime of assault on a federal officer using a dangerous weapon. She added that “many more charges” were expected to be filed.

Late Saturday night local time, the FBI and Secret Service were at a home believed to be associated with Allen in Torrance, a city of around 140,000 residents in California’s South Bay, about 15 miles southwest of downtown Los Angeles.

The FBI executed a search warrant related to the incident, said Bill Essayli, first assistant U.S. attorney for the Central District of California.

Saturday’s shooting rocked attendees of the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner, an annual event attended by the Washington press corps, presidential administration staffers and celebrities.

Trump had attended the dinner before he first became president but skipped it throughout his first term. Saturday was the first time he attended as president, and he was accompanied by first lady Melania Trump.

They and others were seated at the front of the ballroom when video captured what sounded like at least five loud bangs before armed officers rushed in and hauled the president, first lady, Vice President JD Vance and others away while other attendees ducked down under tables.

“I heard a noise and sort of thought it was a tray. I thought it was a tray going down,” Trump said from the White House briefing room Saturday night after the shooting.

“Melania was very cognizant, I think, of what happened,” the president said. “I think she knew immediately what happened. She was saying, ‘That’s a bad noise.’”