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By Peter Aitken, Joshua Rhett Miller, Brendan Cole, Ellie Cook, and Steve Mollman
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The alleged shooter at the White House Correspondents' Association (WHCA) dinner on Saturday night has been identified as Cole Tomas Allen, a 31-year-old teacher from California.
President Donald Trump at a press conference held shortly after the incident described Allen as a "lone wolf" and a "whack job." He said Allen was armed with "multiple weapons" when he tried to enter the dinner but was stopped outside the Washington Hilton's ballroom by law enforcement.
"The guy was a sick guy," Trump added on Fox News on Sunday. "When you read his manifesto, he hates Christians."
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In that shooter's manifesto, Allen refers to himself as a “Friendly Federal Assassin.”
Allen's brother notified police in New London, Connecticut, about the manifesto, which Allen shared with family members shortly before the shooting incident, a White House official told Newsweek on Sunday.
Toward the end of the manifesto, Allen wrote: "Oh and if anyone is curious is how doing something like feels: it’s awful. I want to throw up; I want to cry for all the things I wanted to do and never will, for all the people whose trust this betrays; I experience rage thinking about everything this administration has done."
The White House official noted that the Secret Service and local police interviewed the shooter's sister in Rockville, Maryland. The sister, according to the official, said that Allen had a tendency to make radical statements and that his rhetoric "constantly referenced a plan to do 'something' to fix the issues with today’s world."
The manifesto, noted the official, "clearly stated he wanted to target administration officials. He also had a ton of anti-Trump and anti-Christian rhetoric on his social media accounts."
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche told NBC's Meet the Press on Sunday that the suspect had traveled across the country before the event. He said while motive is being investigated, officials "believe he was targeting administration officials in this attack, attempted attack, but that's again, quite preliminary."
U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro announced that Allen had been charged with two counts of using a firearm during a crime of violence and one count of assault on an officer using a dangerous weapon. Pirro said that further information could lead to additional charges.
D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser confirmed that Allen acted alone in his attempt to breach the dinner.
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What Happened at the White House Correspondents' Dinner?
On Saturday night, Allen breached security at the White House Correspondents' Dinner and opened fire, forcing the Secret Service to evacuate Trump and members of his Cabinet.
In video that Trump posted on Truth Social, Allen can be seen sprinting through a security checkpoint, which had a metal detector, and past security guards. The dinner was being held one floor below in the ballroom, from where Trump, Vice President JD Vance, and Cabinet members were safely evacuated.
Metropolitan Police later identified the weapons as a shotgun, a handgun and "multiple knives." Allen shot a Secret Service agent, but hit him in his vest, preventing serious injury. Law enforcement then took down Allen and apprehended him.
Blanche also said officials believe the suspect traveled by train from California to Chicago and then on to Washington, where he checked in as a guest at the hotel. "We’re still investigating a motive, " he said, which could take a couple of days at the least.
The targeted officials “likely” include the U.S. president, Blanche added, “but I want to wait and not get ahead of us on that.”
Blanche also said thar he did not believe that the suspect was cooperating with the investigation, and he did not know if there was any connection with the incident and the Iran War.
Who Is Cole Tomas Allen?
Allen graduated from Pasadena-based Caltech (California Institute of Technology) in 2017, according to his LinkedIn profile, where he is described as a game developer, engineer, scientist, and teacher. A resurfaced video shared on the X account National Chronicle (@NCNewsOnX) and elsewhere appears to show Allen as a Caltech student telling a TV reporter about a prototype for a wheelchair emergency brake he developed.
Bin Tang, a computer science professor at California State University, Dominguez Hills, told the Associated Press that Allen took several of his classes. "He was a very good student indeed, always sitting in the first row of my class, paying attention, and frequently emailing me with coursework questions," Tang said. "Soft-spoken, very polite, a good fellow. I am very shocked to see the news."
The White House official mentioned above told Newsweek that, according to Allen's sister, he purchased two handguns and a shotgun from Cap Tactical Firearms and kept them stored at their parents' home—something the parents were unaware of. Allen would regularly go to a shooting range to train with his firearms, she added.
She also noted, according to the official, that Allen was part of a group called "The Wide Awakes" and attended a "No Kings" protest in California at some point.
According to Federal Election Commission (FEC) records, Allen donated $25 to ActBlue in October 2024, with the memo that his contribution was "earmarked for Harris for President." This was the only political donation listed on the FEC website in the past decade.
Caltech confirmed to Newsweek that Allen graduated from the university in 2017 but had "no further information at this time." Caltech posted a graduation announcement on Facebook in 2017 that showed him as an adult in a cardigan and red tie and a photo of him as a child holding a stuffed bunny while smiling.
His LinkedIn profile said that he had achieved a grade of 3.0/4/0 and described how he was a member of the Caltech Christian Fellowship and the Caltech Nerf Club.
The profile describes a range of intern posts and jobs over the last 12 years. These include being a teaching assistant at Caltech between September 2016 and June 17 where he said he “aided students, leading Arduino-based [project-driven] lectures on two occasions, ran experiments and helped design course material.”
His profile said he was a mechanical engineer at IJK Controls in South Pasadena between June 2017 and September 2018.
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His next role was as a self-employed developer from September 2018 to the present in which he designed and built the C++-based video game Bohrdom, “including several custom musical pieces and over 750 custom graphics.”
It 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." It continued, "Think of it as a hybrid of a bullet hell and a racing game, with the inclusion of self-propelled pinballs.”
Allen was employed by tutoring company C2 Education as recently as December 2024, when he was honored as "Teacher of the Month" for his work at the company's Torrance location. Newsweek has reached out to C2 Education's Torrance location for comment.
Dylan Wakayama, president of the Asian American Civic Trust, said Allen tutored high school students who are members of the organization, telling The Los Angeles Times: "They thought he was very intelligent, proficient in biology, mathematics and science. They thought he was on the nicer, quiet side."
Allen also got a master’s degree in computer science at Cal State Dominguez Hills in 2025, according to the profile, which pictures shows him sitting in his cap and gown with the caption: “Pretty sure my Master’s in CS is done.”
Messages posted underneath the image in the hours since the shooting have condemned Allen. “Not here to say anything mean, but violence is never the answer to anything whether you like someone or not,” wrote Jean Go-Oco.
Another user, Joanne Eisensmidts, posted: “I feel your pain. But you can’t shoot people. I hope this wasn’t some crazy conspiracy that you got dragged into.”
Roger Hosey wrote: “Thank God this guy didn’t kill anyone tonight, and that the Secret Service agent wasn’t more severely injured. Their consummate professionalism saved the day. So proud of law enforcement—excellent job, gentlemen—from a former brother in blue.”
Leeland Winfree posted: “It’s a real tragedy that you decided on this course of action. You’ll probably never see this, but I’m praying for you. From master's degree to prison is wild. You had so much potential. Nothing worse than wasted potential.”
What Has Law Enforcement Said?
Images showed a large media presence at the property reported to be where Allen was living with his parents on Gramercy Avenue in Torrance, according to reports.
FBI armored vehicles were at the scene, where yellow tape was put up at 218th and 220th Street and the property was cordoned off.
A law enforcement official told The Los Angeles Times that authorities were obtaining warrants to search addresses associated with Allen in Torrance.
Jeffrey Carroll, interim chief of police for the Metropolitan Police Department, said the suspect was not known to the D.C. police and had been staying at the hotel. He said the suspect had charged the security checkpoint holding a shotgun and was also armed with a handgun and knives.
The suspect was then tackled to the ground and handcuffed by law enforcement after exchanging gunfire with officers, said Carroll. One officer was hit in his bulletproof vest but was expected to recover.
Secret Service Deputy Director Matthew Quinn posted a statement on X which said that “a coward attempted to create a national tragedy,” but he had “underestimated the protective capabilities of the U.S. Secret Service and was stopped at first contact."
"The strength of our layered security posture was evident, with a myriad of countermeasures still ahead," added Quinn who expressed gratitude to the men and women of the Secret Service and other law enforcement agencies.
Torrance Mayor George K. Chen said in a statement that while reports connecting the suspect as a resident of the city were “troubling, one individual’s alleged actions do not define our city or the values of the more than 143,000 residents who call Torrance home.”
“Torrance is a community built on respect, diversity, hard work, and public safety,” the statement added. “The City of Torrance stands firmly against political violence, extremism, and acts of hatred in any form.
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Echoes of Ronald Reagan Shooting
The events of Saturday night took place at the same hotel where an attempt was made on the life of President Ronald Reagan on March 30, 1981.
The culprit, John Hinckley Jr., fired six shots. Reagan was hit, as were Secret Service Agent Timothy McCarthy, D.C. policeman Thomas Delehanty, and White House press secretary James S. Brady, who suffered brain damage and was permanently disabled.
One bullet ricocheted off the presidential limousine and struck Reagan in the chest, breaking a rib and puncturing a lung, causing internal bleeding. He underwent emergency surgery at George Washington University Hospital, and was released on April 11. In 1982 Hinckley was found not guilty by reason of insanity on charges of attempting to assassinate the president.
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