A California man was in custody in connection with the shooting at the White House correspondents’ dinner on Saturday night at the Washington Hilton, President Trump said during a news conference Saturday night.
The man in custody has not been identified publicly by the authorities, but two law enforcement officials familiar with the investigation said that he is Cole Tomas Allen, 31, of Torrance, Calif. The officials asked to remain anonymous because they had not been authorized to disclose the information.
The suspect, who was apprehended by the Secret Service, was being charged with using a firearm during a crime of violence and with assault of a federal officer, said Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia. She did not name the suspect, but said he would be arraigned on Monday in Federal District Court and that additional charges were expected.
The suspect exchanged gunfire with authorities before being brought under control by the Secret Service. He did not reach the ballroom where President Trump and hundreds of members of the media were gathered for the annual event, said the Washington police chief, Jeffery W. Carroll, in a separate news conference Saturday night.
The suspect was carrying knives, a shotgun and a handgun, officials said. He was believed to be staying as a guest in the hotel when he carried out the attack, the authorities said.
A Secret Service agent was shot, Mr. Trump said, but he was protected by a bulletproof vest. He was taken to a hospital for treatment, officials said. The suspect was also taken there to be evaluated, though officials said they did not believe he had been injured.
“The man has been captured,” Mr. Trump said during a briefing shortly after the shooting, adding that investigators were going to his apartment in California. “He’s a very sick person.”
The authorities said they believed the shooter acted alone. They were still investigating whether the person was targeting the president.
A spokeswoman for the California Institute of Technology said a person named Cole Allen had earned an undergraduate degree in 2017, but that the school had no other information to disclose immediately.
A student named Cole Allen graduated with a master’s degree from California State University, Dominguez Hills, in 2025, according to a statement from that school.
“The university cannot confirm if this is the same suspect identified in the April 25 shooting at the White House Correspondents Dinner,” the statement read, adding that the university “unequivocally condemns this act of violence, as well as all forms of violence.”
On Facebook and LinkedIn accounts that appear to be connected to him, Mr. Allen described himself as an independent game developer, posting about a game called “Bohrdom” that he had released in 2018. Described online as “a skill-based, non-violent asymmetrical fighting game loosely derived from a chemistry model that is itself loosely based on reality,” the game appeared to have almost no reviews and almost no followers on its linked social media accounts before Saturday.
In Torrance — the Los Angeles suburb where records show Mr. Allen lived in a modest, two-story tract home — news crews and neighbors gathered Saturday night on the sidewalk and police helicopters circled overhead. The street was cordoned off by the police, but it was unclear whether anyone was inside and the house was dark.
In the driveway, two Hondas were parked next to a bright blue motor scooter that neighbors said Mr. Allen had used to tool around the area on errands.
James Costello, 53, a prop master who lives nearby said he knew the Allen family only “to say hello.”
“This is a quiet neighborhood, lots of retired L.A.P.D.,” Mr. Costello said. “That’s why we moved here. We were told it was super-super safe.”
Alan Blinder, Shawn Hubler Chelsia Rose Marcius and Michelle Liu contributed reporting.
