Cole Tomas Allen, 31, Storms White House Correspondents' Dinner; Secret Service Takes Him Into Custody

A shooting erupted at the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner attended by President Donald Trump, and the incident quickly upended the evening’s planned entertainment and proceedings.

“Update: President Trump was evacuated from the dinner unharmed after shots were fired outside the ballroom”

CBS News

Oz Pearlman, the mentalist who had been performing when shots rang out, told USA Today, “The night was going very, very well,” adding that he was “warming up the crowd” and “speaking to the press secretary” before the disruption.

CBS News

Pearlman described the moment as a sudden shift from a peak reaction to “shock and distress,” saying, “Right as I did the reveal, that’s exactly the moment things went down in the room.”

PBS reported that a man “armed with guns and knives stormed the lobby outside a high-profile journalists' dinner,” rushing toward the ballroom before Secret Service agents took him into custody.

In Washington, the Associated Press account carried by PBS said the president was “uninjured and was hustled away,” and that “Guests went diving under tables as the scene unfolded.”

The AP material also said a law enforcement officer was shot in a bullet-resistant vest but was “expected to be OK,” and that the suspect was identified as Cole Tomas Allen, 31, of Torrance, California.

Trump later held a news conference from the White House, and PBS quoted him describing the attacker as a “sick person” and saying, “They seem to think he was a lone wolf.”

Before the shooting, Oz Pearlman’s act at the dinner centered on a notepad reveal that he said became intertwined with the chaos that followed.

USA Today reported that Pearlman told the outlet he was performing a trick when “shots rang out at the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner,” and that the “challenge was to figure out the name of her unborn daughter.”

CNN

Pearlman said the White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, was expecting her second baby with husband Nicholas Riccio “any day,” and he described how he “turned his notepad around to reveal the name Viviane.”

He said he “never would have shared this with the world,” but added, “But I spoke to her and she said it's OK to share,” and he quoted Leavitt as telling him, “This is a moment in history.”

USA Today also said that in a text, Leavitt confirmed Pearlman’s account was accurate, and Pearlman called the timing “insane,” explaining, “Right as I did the reveal, that’s exactly the moment things went down in the room.”

Pearlman described the immediate aftermath as a scene where Secret Service response was rapid, saying, “The Secret Service moved so incredibly fast; anyone who says it was a failure, that’s ridiculous.”

He said he was on the ground with President Donald Trump within moments, recalling, “Seeing his face a foot away − I’ll never forget that.”

The incident’s immediate security response and the suspect’s identification were central to the public account of what happened after the shooting began.

“Breaking with decades of tradition, the White House Correspondents’ Association will not feature a comedian at its annual gala this Saturday night”

MS NOW

PBS, citing the Associated Press, said a man “armed with guns and knives” stormed the lobby outside the dinner and rushed toward the ballroom before Secret Service agents swarmed him and “took him into custody.”

PBS reported that “The president was uninjured and was hustled away,” and it described guests diving under tables as the scene unfolded.

The AP account also said “one law enforcement official said a gunman had opened fire,” and that “a law enforcement officer was shot in the bullet-resistant vest but is expected to be OK.”

PBS further stated that the shooting suspect was identified as “Cole Tomas Allen, 31, of Torrance, California,” and it included Trump’s characterization of the suspect as a “sick person.”

In the same PBS report, Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser said she had “no reason” to believe anyone else was involved, and PBS quoted her saying, “There does not appear to be any sort of danger to the public at this time.”

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said charges related to Saturday night's attack would be filed shortly and that “the investigation is obviously ongoing and just started.”

The sources diverged in what they emphasized about the dinner—some focusing on the entertainment and preparation around Oz Pearlman, others on the shooting and the immediate political-security aftermath.

CNN framed the evening as an “unexpected” event, saying Pearlman was hoping his mentalist act would be “the most memorable moment,” while also noting that “Trump is attending Washington’s annual celebration of the First Amendment for the first time as president.”

New York Post

CNN also described how C-SPAN added extra cameras in the ballroom of the Washington Hilton and said those cameras would be trained on journalists’ faces during Trump’s speech.

In contrast, PBS centered on the attack itself, reporting that a man armed with guns and knives stormed the lobby and that Secret Service agents took him into custody, while also detailing the suspect’s identity and the mayor’s reassurance.

USA Today, meanwhile, focused on Pearlman’s perspective on the moment the shots rang out, including his account of the notepad reveal and his description of the Secret Service response as “a success and no one died.”

The New York Post previewed the dinner as a setting for Trump to “skewer the press,” quoting Karoline Leavitt saying Trump’s speech would be “very entertaining,” and it described the event as “great theater.”

CBS News described Trump attending the dinner as his first time as president and discussed the WHCA’s choice of a mentalist as featured entertainment, while also referencing the broader debate about journalists socializing with the people they cover.

After the shooting, the sources described a rapid shift from dinner programming to investigation and rescheduling, with multiple officials laying out next steps.

“Collin Binkley, Associated PressCollin Binkley, Associated Press Alanna Durkin Richer, Associated PressAlanna Durkin Richer, Associated Press David Bauder, Associated PressDavid Bauder, Associated Press Leave your feedback WASHINGTON (AP) — A man armed with guns and knives stormed the lobby outside a high-profile journalists' dinner attended by President Donald Trump and multiple senior U”

PBS

PBS reported that Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said charges related to Saturday night's attack will be filed shortly and that “the investigation is obviously ongoing and just started,” while FBI Director Kash Patel said the agency was examining “a long gun and shell casings recovered from the scene” and interviewing witnesses from the dinner.

PBS

PBS also said Weijia Jiang, president of the White House Correspondents' Association, told attendees, “We will do this again,” and it described staff breaking down table settings and the presidential lectern after the event was scrapped.

The report also placed the incident within a broader pattern of threats, stating it was “the third time since 2024 that the president had been under threat by an attacker in his immediate vicinity,” and it referenced the assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania.

USA Today added that Pearlman believed the Secret Service response was effective, saying, “The Secret Service moved so incredibly fast; anyone who says it was a failure, that’s ridiculous. It was a success and no one died.”

In the same USA Today account, Pearlman said he would “come back for a rescheduled event,” and he described the night as “Bittersweet,” with the awareness that “I’m OK and that my wife is OK, and the president, of course.”

CNN’s pre-dinner framing also underscored how the dinner’s televised nature and camera coverage were designed to capture the president’s speech and Pearlman’s act, with C-SPAN adding extra cameras in the Washington Hilton ballroom.