An apparent would-be assassin stormed a dinner event in Washington DC where Donald Trump was preparing to address top US journalists.
Gunshots rang out at the hotel where the formal White House Correspondents’ Dinner was taking place on Saturday evening with one Secret Service agent shot but ‘in good spirits’, the President said.
Dramatic footage from the scene shows personnel rushing on stage to usher away Trump, his wife Melania, and several other top administration officials.
Three agents in full protective gear then replace them, pointing their guns across the room and over the heads of hundreds of high-profile guests.
Officials said the attacker was armed with a shotgun, handgun and multiple knives when he charged at a security checkpoint by the ballroom.
Trump later posted pictures of the suspect in the shooting lying face down on the carpeted floor topless.
US outlets identified him as Cole Thomas Allen, 31, from Torrance, California.
Washington police chief Jeffery Carroll said it was believed the suspect had been staying at the Watergate hotel where the event was taking place as a guest.
At a press conference around 90 minutes after the attack took place, Trump described the suspect as a ‘very sick person’ who appeared to be a ‘lone wolf’.
It is the third time in two years that a gunman appears to have come close to firing at Donald Trump.
The other two incidents took place ahead of the 2024 US Presidential Election, which he would go on to win.
Yesterday evening marked the first time Donald Trump had attended the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, a formal event intended to celebrate freedom of the press, in either of his terms.
Trump said the postponed ceremony will take place soon.
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