Live Updates: Investigators Search for Motive in Shooting at Washington Dinner

“My thoughts and prayers are with him, and I wish him continued safety and well-being,” Mr. Sharif wrote on X.

Mr. Sharif has been trying to broker talks between the United States and Iran, which appear to be on pause again after Mr. Trump on Saturday abruptly called off a trip to Pakistan by two of his top negotiators.

Many European leaders, including President Emmanuel Macron of France and Prime Minister Keir Starmer of Britain, strongly condemned the violence.

Mr. Macron called the attack “unacceptable” and said Mr. Trump had his “full support.”

“Violence has no place in a democracy,” he wrote on X.

The leaders of Canada and Mexico, who have often clashed politically with Mr. Trump, posted messages of support.

President Claudia Sheinbaum of Mexico said she had sent Mr. Trump and his wife, Melania Trump, “our respect.”

“Violence should never be the way,” Ms. Sheinbaum said on X.

Prime Minister Mark Carney of Canada, who is embroiled in a trade battle with Mr. Trump, said he was “relieved that the President, the First Lady, and all guests are safe.”

Ana Castelain contributed reporting from Paris.

Torrance is a city of about 150,000 people southwest of downtown Los Angeles in the suburban enclave known as the South Bay. Once populated largely by blue-collar aerospace and automotive workers, it is now known for its health care and white-collar work force, and for its proximity to popular beaches. The city has a median home value of more than $1 million, though the neighborhood around the suspect’s home was slightly more modest, and residents said many retired Los Angeles police officers lived in the area.

With the block outside the suspect’s home taped off by local police and F.B.I. agents, crowds of suburban neighbors strained for a glimpse of the neat, two-story house as the authorities awaited a search warrant. As ocean mist turned to rain on Saturday night, police urged residents to head home.

Aurelio Mattucci, a city councilman in Torrance, said local officials were told that the house had been occupied earlier in the evening, but that the occupants had either left or were refusing to open the door.

Two law enforcement officials who were not authorized to discuss the matter identified the suspect, who was in custody in Washington, as Cole Tomas Allen, 31. Acquaintances of Mr. Allen struggled to reconcile the attack at the Washington hotel where the dinner was being held with the intelligent, mild-mannered man they had encountered as a neighbor or as a math and science tutor.

Dylan Wakayama, the president of a local nonprofit that runs a volunteer program for high school students, said that several teenagers in the program had called him in confusion, saying Mr. Allen had tutored them.

“I think all of us in Torrance are very shocked,” Mr. Wakayama said.

Max Harris, a senior at a local high school who had been tutored for several months by Mr. Allen, stood in the street, struggling to absorb the scene. “He seemed like a completely average guy,” he said. “Like, I never would have expected anything like this from a guy like him.”

The suspect was identified as Cole Tomas Allen, 31, of Torrance, Calif. by law enforcement officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to disclose the information. They did not disclose a motive.

Mr. Trump has had attempts on his life before. In July, 2024, his ear was grazed by a bullet in an assassination attempt at a campaign rally in Butler, Pa. Months later, a federal agent fired on an armed man at Mr. Trump’s Florida golf club.

What happened?

Around 8 p.m., minutes after the event began, a gunman charged past a security checkpoint at the Washington Hilton, according to a security video posted by Mr. Trump.

In the video, law enforcement officials are seen chasing him as tuxedoed agents draw their guns and run toward the ballroom.

Witnesses inside said a loud noise was heard outside the room. Caterers screamed and ran for stairwells as attendees ducked and crouched against the walls.

The gunman exchanged gunfire with authorities before being brought under control by the Secret Service. He did not enter the ballroom, authorities said.

Investigators believe he fired at least once, the Washington police said. Officials were still reviewing ballistics evidence and shell casings.

Mr. Trump, the first lady Melania Trump, Vice President JD Vance and other top officials were escorted from the hotel around 9:45 p.m.

At a White House later news conference later that night, Mr. Trump said that a Secret Service officer had been shot but was protected by a bulletproof vest. He was taken to a hospital, officials said. There were no other reported injuries, according to Markwayne Mullin, the homeland security secretary.

Who is the suspect?

Mr. Allen, the man two law enforcement officials said was the suspect taken into custody, was carrying knives, a shotgun and a handgun, officials said, and is believed to have been staying at the hotel. Authorities said they believe he acted alone but are investigating whether he was targeting the president.

Social media accounts that appear to be linked to Mr. Allen describe him as an independent game developer and a teacher.

What is the White House correspondent’s dinner?

Each year, the White House Correspondents’ Association hosts a dinner to celebrate press freedom and the First Amendment. Founded in 1914, the association represents nearly 1,000 journalists who cover the White House.

The event draws hundreds of journalists, celebrities and politicians from both major parties. It has been held at the Washington Hilton for decades.

“Thank God he, the First Lady, and everyone who was attending the WHCD was safe,” Weijia Jiang, the association’s president and a CBS White House correspondent, said on social media.

Mr. Trump, who has had a strained relationship with the news media, had previously boycotted the event. Saturday marked his first appearance during either of his terms. He last attended in 2011, when he was a reality TV star.

He said dinner would be rescheduled within a month.

“This was an event dedicated to freedom of speech that was supposed to bring together members of both parties with members of the press. And in a certain way it did,” Mr. Trump said on Saturday. “I saw a room that was just totally unified. It was in one way, very beautiful, a very beautiful thing to see.”

Music stopped as the news spread through the crowd of political writers and online content creators.

Chris Best, the chief executive of Substack, a newsletter platform, took the stage to try to reassure guests. “We believe that we are safe here,” he said.

For the next hour, no one was permitted to enter or leave. Many guests lined up at the bar.

Some other after-parties were set to continue. The Time magazine party at the residence of the Swiss ambassador was proceeding, according to organizers.

Richard Hudock, a spokesman for MS NOW, said in a text message that its event at Dupont Underground would also go on. “While tonight’s event won’t be what we originally intended, we still think it is important to provide a space for friends and colleagues to be together,” he said.

Oz Pearlman, a magician also known as Oz the Mentalist who had attended the White House correspondents’ dinner earlier, arrived at the MS NOW event around midnight. “I’m feeling shook up,” he said, adding that he had been performing when he had heard what he initially thought was a bomb and dropped to the ground.

He said he was glad people were still gathering. “I mean, what else can we do at this point?” he said. “It is definitely like an adrenaline dump.”

Back at the Substack party, Olivia Troye, a former adviser to Vice President Mike Pence who is now running for Congress as a Democrat in Virginia, said “I got chills.”

“My phone blew up from friends: ‘Are you there? Are you safe?’” she added.

Keith Edwards, a news analyst and YouTuber at the Substack party, said he felt “numb.” Aaron Parnas, a political commentator on TikTok, began filming a video for his followers. By the time the music resumed, most guests were scrolling through their social media feeds.

“I think people are not quite sure how to process it,” said the writer Steven Beschloss.

Moments before he walked out, the president posted surveillance footage of a suspect making a mad dash through the cavernous halls of the Washington Hilton. That’s where Mr. Trump was attending the White House correspondents’ dinner when gunfire broke out at the hotel. Very little was clear about whatever had happened there, a mile and a half up the hill.

But the president wanted to talk about it.

“It’s always shocking when something like this happens,” he said, standing with the first lady, the vice president, the defense secretary, the secretary of state, the acting attorney general, the F.B.I. director and the press secretary — all still in their evening wear from the dinner.

But, really, he argued, the whole thing was just the latest example of why he needs to build his maximum-security, legally challenged ballroom at the White House.

“I didn’t want to say this,” he said, “but this is why we have to have all of the attributes of what we’re planning at the White House. It’s actually a larger room, and it’s a much more secure. It’s got — it’s drone proof, it’s bulletproof glass.”

And then he gave the first question of the night to Weijia Jiang, the CBS News correspondent and the president of the White House Correspondents’ Association, who had been seated next to him at the dinner before pandemonium broke out.

“Madam chairman,” he said, “I just want to say you did a fantastic job. What a beautiful evening.” (Mr. Trump does not usually speak this way to the reporters who cover him.)

She asked him what was going through his mind when he realized his life may have been in danger again. He told the tale: He was sitting with the first lady on his other side when he heard a noise he thought sounded familiar and nonthreatening. “I thought it was a tray going down,” he said. “I’ve heard that many times, and it was a pretty loud noise, and it was from quite far away.”

His wife was not so sure, he said.

“Melania was very cognizant, I think, of what happened,” he explained. “I think she knew immediately what happened. She was saying, ‘That’s a bad noise.’” She looked quite stoic behind him in the briefing room. The only word she spoke during the news conference was “No,” after being asked if she would like to say anything at all. The president said that it was “a rather traumatic experience for her.”

He described being “whisked away,” thanked law enforcement profusely and said “there wasn’t a whole lot of time to be thinking, because it was a matter of seconds before we were out the door.”

On the whole, Mr. Trump’s response from the podium late Saturday evening was remarkably zen from a man who has survived two assassination attempts, and whose wife was just ducking under a table while gun-toting agents bum-rushed the ballroom around them.

Who knows how or if the president’s mind-set, his rhetoric, his political instincts or his security apparatus may change in the coming days or weeks. Very little was revealed at the news conference about the suspect’s motivations.

Still, Mr. Trump kept downplaying any insinuation that this latest scare would alter how he goes about his life.

“I like not to think about it,” he said. “I lead a pretty normal life, considering, you know, it’s a dangerous life. I think I’m, I think I handle it as well — as well as it can be handled.”

He added: “To be honest with you, I’m not a basket case.”

All week long he had been aiming screeds at the news outlets in the room, but now he was praising the reporters before him, complimenting their outfits, using a polite tone of voice and thanking them for their work.

“You’ve been very responsible in your coverage,” he said. “I will say I’ve been seeing what’s been out. You’ve been very responsible.”

This was definitely not the message he had planned to deliver to the media tonight. He said he was going to make what he called the “most inappropriate speech ever made,” and sounded a bit disappointed that he had been robbed of that opportunity. So disappointed, in fact, that he vowed the dinner would be rescheduled for some time in the next 30 days.

But then, he would need a rewrite — or at least that is what he said for now.

“I don’t know if I can ever be as rough as I was going to be tonight,” he said. “I think I’m going to be probably very nice. I’ll be very boring the next time, but we’re going to have a great event.”

In this case, the gunman rushed toward the ballroom where the president was dining with hundreds of journalists, government officials and guests, and drew fire from security forces before being taken into custody.

It is not yet known what the man’s motive was, but the outburst of violence is sure to revive questions about the scourge of political violence afflicting the United States, and about whether there is enough security around Mr. Trump, one of the most targeted presidents in history.

“It’s a dangerous profession,” Mr. Trump said afterward at the White House, referring to being a political leader. He compared his line of work to being a racecar driver or a bull rider, and said presidents were more likely to be shot at or killed.

“Nobody told me this was such a dangerous profession,” he said.

There were no metal detectors set up at the hotel’s entrances, and a secure perimeter was only established closer to the ballroom deeper inside the Washington Hilton. A security video posted by Mr. Trump showed the gunman sprinting past the security checkpoint before being captured short of the ballroom.

Mr. Trump said the incident underscored why he wanted to build a $400 million ballroom on White House grounds that he said would be equipped with the latest security features. That project is currently subject to litigation.

“It’s not a particularly secure building,” he said of the Hilton, before launching into a pitch for the necessity of his planned ballroom. “It’s bulletproof glass. We need the ballroom.”

On July 13, 2024, Mr. Trump became the first current or former U.S. president to face an assassination attempt since 1981, when a bullet nicked his ear while he was giving a speech in Butler.

The 20-year-old gunman was able to fire several shots at Mr. Trump before the Secret Service returned fire and killed the shooter. But the fact that he came so close to killing Mr. Trump prompted immediate demands for changes at the Secret Service. The agency’s competence was called into question.

Mr. Trump on Saturday praised the response by the Secret Service and other agencies, and credited the counter-sniper who killed the gunman in Butler. “He hit him right between the eyes from 400 yards without any notice,” Mr. Trump said, adding: “If he didn’t do that, beyond me, you would have had a lot more people killed.”

Then, on Sept. 15, 2024, a man armed with a rifle hid in the shrubbery at the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, plotting to shoot Mr. Trump.

The suspect, Ryan Routh, was convicted of attempted assassination and sentenced to life in prison.

Asked on Saturday why he believed he was so often the target of violence, Mr. Trump said it was because of the consequential nature of his presidency.

“I studied assassinations, and I must tell you the most impactful, the people that do the most” are targeted, Mr. Trump said, adding: “The people that do the most, the people that make the biggest impact — they’re the ones that they go after.”

In addition to the known attempts on Mr. Trump’s life, he has faced other threats. Federal prosecutors have said that Iranian agents plotted to kill Mr. Trump in retaliation for the killing by the United States during Mr. Trump’s first term of Maj. Gen. Qassim Suleimani, who helped lead Iran’s terrorism campaign.

The president is the highest-profile target of political violence, but the threats for years have affected officeholders at local, state and federal levels. The violence has taken the lives of members of both major political parties.

There was the mass shooting in 2017 of Republicans at a congressional baseball practice that nearly killed Representative Steve Scalise, Republican of Louisiana. And there was the assassination last year of the conservative activist Charlie Kirk.

Democrats are also often under threat. There were the killings in Minnesota of a Democratic state lawmaker and her husband; the arson attack on the home of Gov. Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania; a hammer assault on the husband of former Speaker Nancy Pelosi; the shootings at a Kamala Harris campaign office in Arizona.

There was also the Jan. 6, 2021, pro-Trump mob attack on the Capitol that injured roughly 150 police officers.

Threats against members of Congress from both parties have skyrocketed.

Mr. Trump on Saturday acknowledged the atmosphere.

“In light of this evening’s events, I ask that all Americans recommit with their hearts to resolving our differences peacefully,” he said.

Todd Blanche, the acting attorney general, said the incident Saturday put on display the “very worst and the very best of this country.”

“You saw the very worst by the actions of that coward, that coward that the president just talked about. But you also saw the very best, because you saw law enforcement do exactly what they’re supposed to do,” he said. In the videos of the incident, he added, “you’ll see law enforcement do exactly what we want them to do.”

Mr. Trump was asked whether he would change how he functioned, given how frequently he has been targeted. He said that he tries not to think about the dangers of the job.

“We’re going to reschedule,” he said of the dinner that was abruptly canceled. “We’re going to do it again. We’re not going to let anybody take over our society. We’re not going to cancel things out.”

There were no announcements or cries of “get down.” Instead, a sense of danger spread across the room like a wave. Hundreds of the country’s top media executives, editors in chief and prominent television anchors, clad in tuxedos and evening gowns, instinctively dropped to the floor, crouching besides chairs and ducking under tables.

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A nauseous silence descended, punctuated by small gasps and whimpers. The loudest sounds were those of the security officers racing — and in some cases leaping over chairs and guests — to evacuate senior administration officials from the tightly packed ballroom.

No one had a hint as to what was going on — except that Mr. Trump had been rushed from the stage, which was now occupied by a pair of security officials brandishing large guns. (Later in the evening, officials said that an armed man had charged a security checkpoint and that a Secret Service officer had been shot.)

Erika Kirk, the widow of the conservative activist Charlie Kirk and a guest of Fox News, crawled beneath her table, where she was comforted by the anchor Harris Faulkner and Trey Yingst, the network’s chief foreign correspondent. From beside his chair, Brian Stelter, CNN’s media correspondent, held his iPhone aloft, recording video of whatever scenes were unfolding above.

The health secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and his wife, the actress Cheryl Hines, looked pained as guards hustled them out.

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Others appeared relatively unfazed. Lloyd Blankfein, the former chief executive of Goldman Sachs, was sitting with CBS News journalists toward the front of the room when the emergency occurred. As the confusion unfolded, Mr. Blankfein turned to his seatmate and asked, “Are you going to finish that salad?”

After less than five minutes, the crowd sensed that any immediate threat had passed. Guests shakily returned to their feet, some wiping away tears.

Journalists are accustomed to chronicling moments of unexpected violence, but few witness them in real time. Even as some in the room rushed toward the exits, dozens of reporters dialed law enforcement sources to figure out what had happened. Network executives and editors ordered up coverage plans. Susan Zirinsky, a veteran producer at CBS News, stood on a chair in a sparkly sequined jacket with a phone pressed to her ear.

Mr. Yingst, of Fox News, called into his control room to deliver on-air updates. Jacqui Heinrich, one of the network’s White House correspondents, had been seated on the dais, and she filed a report from backstage. CNN aired Mr. Stelter’s iPhone footage live. “It wasn’t until I stopped streaming half an hour later that the gravity of the moment really registered,” he said.

Politico’s editor in chief, Jonathan Greenberger, ordered several black-tie-clad reporters to commandeer a nearby banquet room as an ad hoc command center so they could quickly publish the news.

Some gallows humor emerged. “Are they bringing more Champagne?” one attendee said to a friend. But other guests were deeply upset. One woman’s hand shook as she spoke on the phone with a family member and wiped away tears.

Weijia Jiang, a CBS News correspondent who is president of the White House Correspondents’ Association, eventually retook the stage and, with some emotion in her voice, said the evening would continue, prompting loud applause. Eventually an announcement was made that the authorities preferred that the crowd depart.

By 10 p.m., the ballroom was emptying out. Hundreds of plates of half-eaten burrata lay abandoned as guests shuffled to the escalators, toward the chilly outdoor air of an unnerving and unexpected night.

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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.

The authorities said the man, who did not make it into the large ballroom where Mr. Trump, top administration officials and hundreds of journalists had gathered for dinner, was carrying a shotgun, handgun and knives. The head of Washington’s police force said that investigators believed he fired at least once, and that officials were reviewing ballistics evidence and shell casings. It appeared that no guests were struck by gunfire.

The suspect was tackled to the ground and handcuffed, and was not shot in the incident, the police said. The gunman had been staying at the hotel as a guest, and after his arrest was taken to a local hospital for evaluation, said the interim chief of the Metropolitan Police Department, Jeffery Carroll.

“At this point it does appear he is a lone actor, a lone gunman,” Chief Carroll said.

The U.S. attorney in Washington, Jeanine Pirro, said that the gunman would be charged with using a firearm during a crime of violence, and with assault on a federal officer using a dangerous weapon. She said additional charges would likely be filed later.

A Secret Service officer was shot in his protective vest and in good condition, Mr. Trump told reporters at a White House news conference later in the evening. The authorities were still working to establish exactly how that officer had been shot. In a statement, the Secret Service said the incident took place “near the main magnetometer screening area.”

One witness, the CNN news anchor Wolf Blitzer, said he was feet away from the confrontation, and that shots were fired before officers were able to subdue the man. Mr. Blitzer described how a police officer grabbed him, took him to the ground and shielded him with his body. “I just saw a big gun, and I heard the loud bangs going off,” Mr. Blitzer said.

Sam Nunberg, an aide to Mr. Trump when he announced his presidential campaign in 2015, was also nearby when the commotion broke out.

“I saw Wolf Blitzer, and then out of the corner of my eye I saw a guy running,” Mr. Nunberg said, describing the person as dressed in black, and, as best as he could tell, wearing a hood. At first, Mr. Nunberg thought the man was rushing at Mr. Blitzer. He turned again to see Mr. Blitzer on the ground, missing a shoe. Mr. Nunberg rushed into a bathroom for safety, and soon officials ferried Mr. Blitzer in as well.

Secret Service agents soon joined, counting the number of people sheltering there. The dinner guests were then told to leave the hotel, and left the bathroom in less than 15 minutes.

Chelsia Rose Marcius contributed reporting.