A White House Correspondents’ Association dinner celebrating freedom of the press erupted Saturday evening when an armed man breached security at the Washington Hilton and exchanged gunfire with law enforcement officers before being taken into custody.Investigators believe the suspect was able to get close to the incident due to gaps in the outer layers of security. Officials said he was staying at the hotel, which allowed him to enter as a guest and undergo external screening.
After the hotel was closed to the public from 2 p.m. until the 8 p.m. dinner, entry was restricted to hotel guests, ticket holders, invited attendees, and those with official documentation from the White House Correspondents’ Association.Officials also said that there were no metal detectors at the hotel entrances, with a secure perimeter established only close to the ballroom where the event was being held.A volunteer described how the suspect used an unsecured area inside the hotel to prepare the attack. Helen Mabus, quoted by the New York Post, said he was in a “temporary room” near the roof level entrance where bar carts were stored and that “there was no security” at the time. “He was in that room (…) he took it out of a bag or something,” she said, adding that the weapon was “long” and “didn’t look like a normal gun.”He said that when he handled the weapon it was partially out of sight of the guard and then “put it together and (…) ran up the stairs to go into the ballroom.”Jeff Carroll of the Metropolitan Police Department said the suspect “attacked a U.S. Secret Service checkpoint” while carrying a shotgun, a handgun and several knives. He was pinned to the ground and handcuffed and it appeared that he was a “lone” gunman.According to the Associated Press, the suspect was identified as Cole Thomas Allen, 31, of Torrance, California. The U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia said he has been charged with aggravated firearms and assault.Security for the annual event is usually tight when the President attends. Inside the ballroom, additional measures were taken, including the Secret Service maintaining another perimeter around the President that included a buffer separating him and others seated at the main table from the rest of the attendees. Agents were stationed at the front of the stage and in its wings with heavily armed counter-attack teams ready to respond.Law enforcement officials said their “multi-layered security” worked as designed, even as the incident highlighted how the suspect was able to pass through less secure areas before reaching the interior checkpoint.Trump said the incident underscores why he wants to build a $400 million ballroom equipped with the latest security features on the White House grounds, a project that is currently subject to litigation.
