{"id":15850,"date":"2026-04-27T17:22:09","date_gmt":"2026-04-27T09:22:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?p=15850"},"modified":"2026-04-27T17:22:14","modified_gmt":"2026-04-27T09:22:14","slug":"suspect-in-white-house-correspondents-dinner-shooting-wrote-of-targeting-trump-administration","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?p=15850","title":{"rendered":"Suspect in White House Correspondents\u2019 dinner shooting wrote of targeting Trump administration"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The California teacher and engineer accused of\u00a0opening fire outside the White House Correspondents\u2019 Association Dinner\u00a0believed it was his duty to target Trump administration officials, according to a note he sent family members about 10 minutes before the Saturday attack.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said on \u201cMeet the Press\u201d on Sunday that authorities believe \u201cthe 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\u2019 dinner was at in the last day or two.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The suspect\u2019s writings<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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\u2019s writings provided to NBC News by a senior administration official.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI don\u2019t expect forgiveness,\u201d Allen wrote. \u201cAgain, my sincere apologies.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

He also described his \u201cexpected rules of engagement,\u201d writing: \u201cAdministration officials (not including Mr. Patel): they are targets, prioritized from highest-ranking to lowest.\u201d He appeared to be referring to FBI Director Kash Patel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Later, he added: \u201cI experience rage thinking about everything this administration has done.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The senior administration official said that Allen\u2019s brother contacted the New London Police Department in Connecticut when he received the note.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The department confirmed being contacted at around 10:49 p.m. Saturday, just over two hours after the shooting, \u201cby an individual who expressed concern about the incident that occurred at the White House Correspondents\u2019 Association Dinner earlier in the evening.\u201d Police contacted federal law enforcement and the caller was interviewed by authorities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Allen\u2019s 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 \u201csomething\u201d to fix the issues with today\u2019s world, the senior administration official said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Described as a \u2018borderline genius\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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<\/a> the suspected shooter a \u201cwhack job\u201d and a \u201clone wolf.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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 \u201cborderline genius\u201d and \u201csuper stable.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOther people study hard,\u201d said the ex-teammate, who spoke on the condition of anonymity out of fear it could affect his career. \u201cHe didn\u2019t have to study. It would just come to him. He was really, really smart.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAcross the board, he was really knowledgeable, really curious,\u201d the ex-teammate said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u2019s attack.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHe was probably the most gentle person on the team, which makes it even more shocking that he did this,\u201d the ex-teammate said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Federal charges<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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 \u201cmany more charges\u201d were expected to be filed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u2019s South Bay, about 15 miles southwest of downtown Los Angeles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

Saturday\u2019s shooting rocked attendees of the White House Correspondents\u2019 Association dinner, an annual event attended by the Washington press corps, presidential administration staffers and celebrities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI heard a noise and sort of thought it was a tray. I thought it was a tray going down,\u201d Trump said from the White House briefing room Saturday night after the shooting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMelania was very cognizant, I think, of what happened,\u201d the president said. \u201cI think she knew immediately what happened. She was saying, \u2018That\u2019s a bad noise.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The California teacher and engineer accused of\u00a0opening fire outside the White House Correspondents\u2019 Association Dinner\u00a0believed 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 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":15851,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[1702,3355,2117],"class_list":["post-15850","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international","tag-house","tag-suspect","tag-white"],"yoast_head":"\nSuspect in White House Correspondents\u2019 dinner shooting wrote of targeting Trump administration - LISTEN WORLD<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?p=15850\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Suspect in White House Correspondents\u2019 dinner shooting wrote of targeting Trump administration - LISTEN WORLD\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The California teacher and engineer accused of\u00a0opening fire outside the White House Correspondents\u2019 Association Dinner\u00a0believed it was his duty to target Trump administration officials, according to a note he sent family members about 10 minutes before the Saturday attack. 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