US President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump were rushed out of a White House Correspondents' Association dinner in Washington after a man opened fire on security guards nearby, Reuters reported.
A man shot a Secret Service agent with a shotgun at a checkpoint at the Washington Hilton Hotel before being subdued and arrested.
Trump later said at an emergency press conference at the White House that the officer was saved by a bulletproof vest and was in "good condition."
It was not immediately clear whether Trump was the target of the attack, although he told reporters he believed he was. The US president has survived two previous assassination attempts since 2024, at a time of deepening political polarization in the US.
Trump: Officials believe it was a "lone wolf"
A law enforcement official identified the suspect as Cole Thomas Allen, a Los Angeles-area resident, about 31 years old. Little was immediately known about Allen's background, but social media posts indicated he was a teacher in Torrance, California, near Los Angeles.
Acting Washington Police Chief Jeffery Carroll said the suspect was armed with a rifle, a pistol and multiple knives. He was taken to a local hospital for evaluation, but it was too early to say what his motive was, Carroll said.
Based on preliminary information, it is believed he was a hotel guest, Carroll added.
One focus of the investigation is likely to be how the gunman managed to smuggle a rifle into the hotel hosting the annual White House Correspondents' Association dinner, one of the most significant events on the Washington social calendar.
The formal dress code event was attended by numerous members of Trump's cabinet and other senior administration officials, with heavy security. It was the first time Trump had attended the event as president, having boycotted it in previous years.
Trump then addressed reporters, many of whom were still in their formal attire, at an emergency press conference in the White House briefing room, surrounded by cabinet members and Vice President J.D. Vance. His wife, Melania, watched from the sidelines and declined to speak when asked if she wanted to comment on the evening's events.
The dinner venue was the scene of an assassination attempt on President Ronald Reagan, who was shot and wounded in front of that hotel in 1981.
Surveillance footage, which Trump posted on Truth Social, showed the suspect running quickly through a security checkpoint, briefly catching security officers off guard before drawing his weapon.
The attacker was not shot at, and he managed to get through two checkpoints before being shot down.
"You know, he started from 50 yards away, so he was very far from the hall. He was moving. He was moving really fast," Trump said after the gala dinner was canceled.
Trump said officials believe it was a "lone wolf."
How it all happened
Video footage of the event shows Trump and his wife sitting at a banquet table on stage, talking to someone, when a commotion in the back of the ballroom - triggered by the sound of gunfire - sets off a wave of sighs through the room.
People began to shout, "Down, down!" Many of the 2.600 attendees, dressed in tuxedos and evening gowns, took shelter under tables as security officers drew their weapons; some threw cabinet ministers to the floor and shielded them with their bodies, while others formed a protective cordon.
Security guards in combat fatigues stormed the stage, pointing their rifles toward the ballroom, as Trump, his wife, and Vance were evacuated. Cabinet members, who had been seated at tables spread out across the grand ballroom, were escorted out one by one by their security guards.
While most of the guests hid under the tables, some began chanting: "USA, USA."
Trump remained backstage for about an hour after being removed from the stage, a source told Reuters. He later said he did not want to leave the event, which recalled scenes in which he raised his fist defiantly after narrowly escaping assassination in Butler, Pennsylvania, in 2024.
In that assassination attempt, Trump was shot and wounded in the upper part of the ear by a shot fired by a 20-year-old attacker, who was killed by security personnel.
A little more than two months after the Butler shooting, Secret Service agents spotted a man with a gun hiding in bushes at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida, while Trump was on the course. The incident was treated as an attempted assassination, and the suspect was sentenced to life in prison in February.
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