WASHINGTON — A gunman breached metal detectors in front of the Washington Hilton ballroom during the White House correspondents' dinner and came within feet of the room where President Trump was seated, before exchanging fire with federal agents. The alleged gunman, Cole Tomas Allen of Torrance, California, sprinted dozens of feet into an anteroom that less than an hour earlier had held thousands of guests, including senior government officials.

Trump was whisked offstage within the first minute of shots being fired. A law enforcement officer was shot during the incident and sustained a non-fatal wound. According to officials, Allen had traveled from California before the attack.

In a manifesto, Allen wrote: "No damn security. Not in transport. Not in the hotel. Not in the event." He also wrote, "I walk in with multiple weapons and not a single person there considers the possibility that I could be a threat." Allen's stated targets were members of the Trump administration ranked from highest to lowest, and he wrote that he was willing to "go through" any guest in his way to kill the president's aides.

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche called the U.S. Secret Service response a "massive security success story" and said an investigation is ongoing. On NBC's "Meet the Press," Blanche said: "The first takeaway, or the takeaway that should be obvious, is that the system worked. And that we stopped the suspect, and we stopped him as soon as he tried to do what he was trying to do."

Trump praised the Secret Service and law enforcement officers and compared the episode to the attempt on his life by a gunman in Butler, Pennsylvania, during his 2024 presidential campaign. It was the third known time an attempted assassin has come close to Trump since that campaign began. Trump said it is tough to secure a hotel in the middle of a city with buildings all around and hotel rooms on top. "It is not a particularly secure building," he said, while adding, "The room is very, very secure."

Trump suggested the incident justified his plans to construct a fortified ballroom on the White House grounds, which he described as drone-proof and having bulletproof glass. "Today, we need levels of security that probably nobody's ever seen before," he said.

The House Oversight Committee requested a hearing on the Secret Service's security plans for the dinner. Plans to reschedule the event are under review.

About 2,000 journalists, dignitaries and other guests attended the dinner, with some rushing through rain to enter using multiple hotel entrances. Guests were asked to show their tickets as they walked past security guards, but there was no check-in procedure or ID check. The Washington Hilton was the site of the 1981 shooting of President Reagan and three others.