WASHINGTON — Cole Tomas Allen, 31, breached the secure perimeter of a press gala at the Washington Hilton late Saturday and exchanged gunfire with federal authorities outside the ballroom where President Donald Trump and other top federal officials were seated, officials said. Armed agents took Allen down after he bypassed multiple layers of security.

Two shots from the gunman were heard in the ballroom, Todd Blanche said in an interview on Meet the Press. Federal authorities believe the suspect acted alone in targeting administration employees, likely including the president, Blanche said.

Allen traveled by train from Southern California to Chicago and then to Washington, D.C., before checking into the Washington Hilton with two guns he had previously purchased, officials said. In writings before the attack, Allen said he found far less security at the hotel than he expected when he arrived armed to check in.

Before the attack, Allen wrote a manifesto threatening Trump administration officials and shared it with family. According to Trump, Allen's brother flagged the document to local law enforcement in Connecticut.

A relative of Allen delivered a troubling email from him to New London police around 10:30 p.m. Saturday, New London police Deputy Chief John Perry said. The department provided the email to the Secret Service and the FBI, he said.

Late Saturday, local and federal law enforcement officers, including the FBI, swarmed the Torrance neighborhood where Allen lived, authorities said. Torrance police cleared the road and put up police tape along part of the street in front of his home.

Allen graduated from Caltech in 2017 with a degree in mechanical engineering, where he worked as a teaching assistant and was a member of the school's Christian fellowship and Nerf club. He later studied computer science as a post-graduate student at California State University, Dominguez Hills, and was named teacher of the month at C2 Education in December 2024. Allen is registered to vote with no party preference and made a $25 political contribution earmarked for Kamala Harris' 2024 presidential campaign.

Authorities are awaiting criminal charges against Allen, with an initial court appearance likely Monday, officials said. Trump was grazed on the ear by a bullet at a campaign event in Butler, Pennsylvania, in 2024. Later that year, a gunman targeted Trump as he golfed in Florida before federal agents intervened. Earlier this year, a gunman was killed at Trump's Mar-a-Lago club after breaching a security perimeter.