From left, Acting Attorney General Todd Blanch, U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro of Washington, D.C., and FBI Director Kash Patel hold a news conference at the Justice Department about shooting suspect Cole Thomas Allen at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner on Monday, April 27, 2026.
Tom Williams | CQ-Roll Call, Inc. | getty images
Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, said Sunday that the alleged White House Correspondents’ Association dinner shooter, Cole Thomas Allen, shot a Secret Service agent as he attempted to attack the Washington Hilton ballroom last weekend.
Pirro, speaking on CNN’s “State of the Union,” said new ballistics evidence showed that the agent’s protective jacket contained a buckshot bullet from the Mossberg pump action shotgun that Allen allegedly carried the night of the shooting.
Allen has been charged by federal prosecutors with attempting to assassinate President Donald Trump, in which a Secret Service agent was shot but not injured. Prosecutors have also accused Allen of discharging a firearm during a crime of violence, but until Pirro’s comments, law enforcement officials had not disclosed who shot the agent.
“It’s definitely his bullet,” Pirro said. “He had every intention of killing him and anyone who got in his way of killing the President of the United States.”
It is not yet clear whether the decision that Allen was allegedly the one who shot the agent will lead to any additional charges. Prosecutors have warned that more charges could be filed in the case.
The shooting at the annual press dinner — which was attended by Trump, Vice President J.D. Vance and several high-ranking administration officials — marked the third attempt on a president’s life since 2024.
Allen, a 31-year-old California man, has been in custody since the night of the shooting. He waived his right to challenge his detention on Thursday.
A video still shows Cole Thomas Allen running past security at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner.
Courtesy: usattipiro
However, on Saturday, Allen’s lawyer A filed in court Asked the court to remove him from any suicide precautions while he is in jail.
Allen’s lawyers said they “have not seen, and therefore do not argue, that there has been expressed
Intending to punish Mr. Allen.”
“Nevertheless, his placement on suicide watch is tantamount to punishment, where, here, he has shown no signs of suicide,” they wrote.
He argued that “suicide monitors and suicide precautions amount to a violation of their rights under the Due Process Clause of the U.S. Constitution.”
Allen’s attorneys said he was evaluated on May 1, and a prison nurse determined he should be removed from suicide watch and suicide precautions protocol. He reported that he was still under suicide precautions during that day’s visit, and he believes he is still under such precautions.
The defense said Allen’s presence on suicide watch limits his ability to mount a defense and deprives him of his due process rights. A person placed on suicide watch or precautionary protocol “is not allowed to interact with others inside the facility, have visits, make phone calls, or access resources such as the commissary or law library or jail tablets.”
“Continued housing under suicide watch is unnecessary and violates Mr. Allen’s due process rights by depriving him of dignity and access to resources inside the jail,” they wrote.
