WASHINGTON.- This Saturday, the Secret Service evacuated the president and first lady, Donald and Melania Trump, along with other members of the US Cabinet from the room where the annual dinner of the White House Correspondents Association (WHCA) was being held after hearing what sounded like gunshots, according to an EFE journalist who was at the event.
The president is apparently fine, since the Fox network has reported that he has asked to return to the room and to resume dinner.
Trump then wrote a message on the Truth social network in which he assured that a “shooter” had been arrested.
The apparent explosions occurred outside the ballroom where the dinner was being held, which was dominated by a table on a stage where the president and first lady were seated, who were evacuated shortly after the apparent shots were heard.
Other members of the Government who had attended the gala held at the Hilton Hotel in Washington were also evacuated, such as the Secretaries of State, Marco Rubio, of the Treasury, Scott Bessent, and of War, Pete Hegseth.
Television images show that the apparent shots, between three and four, occurred at a time when the mentalist hired to entertain the evening, Oz Pearlman, was speaking with the president and the first lady, who exclaimed “What happened?!” upon hearing the commotion.
Immediately, all the occupants of the presidential table were evacuated to a safe place and then more members of the Secret Service were deployed in the ballroom carrying assault rifles and asked everyone in the room to take cover.
After a few minutes, the Secret Service began to ask attendees to leave the room because this is now “the scene of a crime,” according to the EFE journalist present at the dinner.
However, many attendees at the event remained in the venue after it was announced that Trump would return and retake the table.
The AFP news agency details that a suspect is detained as a possible perpetrator of the shooting.
Trump says shooter ‘was too far away’
The American president, Donald Trump, assured tonight at a press conference that the shooter who was arrested in an attempt to infiltrate the White House Correspondents’ Dinner “was very far” from approaching him and assured that “he was a crazy man,” but he could have gone through the doors of the great room where he was.
Trump explained today at a press conference around midnight at the White House how he experienced the evacuation of the traditional White House Correspondents’ dinner after a man was “intercepted” after trying to breach the security of the event armed with a long gun.
“It could have been the sound of a tray or a bullet,” explained the president accompanied by the first lady, Melania Trump, the director of the FBI, Kash Patel, and the acting attorney general, Todd Blanche.
“He was very far away, he was in no way close to passing through the doors of the room. The room was sealed,” said the president, who said that this possible assassination attempt was handled professionally by the Secret Service, while the FBI is investigating witnesses.
Trump assured that the Secret Service acted “very quickly” and better, he claimed, than in the case of the Butler (Pennsylvania) rally in July 2024 in which he was shot and wounded by a sniper.
Who is the shooter?
The suspect in the shooting was identified as Cole Tomas Allen31, of Torrance, California, according to reports.
The man accused of the gala shooting will appear Monday on charges of illegal possession of weapons and assault, according to the Washington police chief.
