Who is Cole Allen, the California teacher arrested after opening fire at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner with Trump
The man in police custody after storming into the hotel where President Trump was attending the event was carrying a hunting shotgun, a handgun, and several knives. He held an engineering degree, a master’s in computer science, and also developed video games
The first information released on Saturday night about the attacker who entered the hotel hosting the White House Correspondents’ Dinner for journalists and U.S. President Donald Trump was his photograph: a young, shirtless man lying face‑down on the floor, subdued by security, still inside the Washington Hilton, where the event was halted. He was identified shortly afterward as Cole Allen, a 31‑year‑old man from California.
He was carrying several weapons, the U.S. president said at a press conference following the attempted attack. But Trump also acknowledged that little else was known for the moment about the suspect’s motivations. What he did emphasize was that security personnel prevented him from getting anywhere near the main ballroom where the dinner was taking place. “[He] hadn’t come anywhere close to breach the doors of the room,” said Trump.
The Republican leader released photos of the suspect and the security‑camera footage showing him sprinting through the lobby as agents exchanged fire with him. The gunshots were heard in the middle of the dinner, seconds before the invited journalists, dressed in formal attire, ducked under the tables, and Trump was swiftly evacuated from the room.
There were no injuries, and the suspect is no longer considered a public threat, according to police. The attacker, identified by security sources and confirmed by the AP as Cole Allen, is a 31‑year‑old California native. He lives in Torrance, where he works as a schoolteacher. The city, located south of Los Angeles near the major port of Long Beach, sits at the heart of U.S. maritime transport. On social media, he appears in posts recognizing him as Teacher of the Month in December 2024.
Allen taught in a program known as C2, a kind of nationwide network offering personalized instruction for students who stand out — whether for very high or very low performance — meaning he had highly specialized training.
According to his social‑media profiles, Allen studied at Caltech, the prestigious private university based in the Los Angeles area, specifically in Pasadena, north of the city. He completed an engineering degree there in 2017 and had just finished a master’s in computer science in 2025. In addition to teaching, he also developed video games.
Police said Allen has been charged with assault and with carrying firearms. He had a hunting shotgun, a handgun, and a knife, though authorities do not believe he had accomplices. They have not said how long he had been in the capital or how he arrived, though some accounts suggest he had checked in as a guest at the Hilton, one of Washington’s largest hotels. His reasons for opening fire inside the venue remain unknown in what is now the third assassination attack on Trump in the past 24 months.
Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAÍS USA Edition
