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Torrance tutor suspected in DC shooting
Cole Allen, a tutor from Torrance, was named suspect in the White House correspondents' dinner shooting where President Donald Trump was forced to briefly evacuate.
WASHINGTON (CNS) - A 31-year-old engineer from Torrance is reported to have sent family members a manifesto railing against the Trump administration moments before allegedly opening fire at a Washington, D.C. hotel where President Donald Trump was about to address the White House Correspondents' Dinner.
Cole Tomas Allen is tentatively scheduled to be arraigned Monday and is facing two preliminary charges for using a firearm during a crime of violence and assault on a federal officer using a dangerous weapon, according to U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro.
He was in federal custody Sunday following his arrest shortly after the shooting at the Washington Hilton, the same hotel where President Ronald Reagan was shot in 1981. The shooting occurred shortly before 6 p.m. Saturday in a ballroom of the hotel. Security video showed a man attempting to sprint past the security checkpoint, prompting several officers to draw their weapons.
U.S. Secret Service agents rushed Trump and first lady Melania Trump out of the hotel and back to the White House. Vice President JD Vance was also rushed out.
Neither the president or vice president was injured. One law enforcement officer was shot but was wearing a bullet-proof vest and is expected to be OK, according to multiple media reports.
The Secret Service said the shooting took place near the main magnetonometer screening area, and that "one individual is in custody." Widely circulated images from the scene show the suspect now identified as Allen handcuffed and face down on a carpeted floor.
Authorities said Allen was registered as a guest of the hotel and that his room was being searched.
His parents' Torrance home, where Allen reportedly lived, was also searched after FBI agents waited outside while trying to obtain a warrant after apparently being denied entry from people they talked to inside. Video from the scene late Saturday night showed a large law enforcement presence, including SWAT-type personnel and equipment outside Allen's house. Shortly before midnight, video showed agents had entered the home.
Acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche addressed the media from the White House on Saturday night and told reporters the suspect will face multiple charges.
"I expect you will see charges filed shortly," he said. "The charges should be self-evident, given the conduct, but as you'll hear, there will be multiple charges surrounding the shooting around the possession of firearms and anything else that we can get on this guy."
On Sunday, Blanche said authorities believe "that the suspect traveled by train from Los Angeles to Chicago, and then Chicago to Washington, D.C., where he checked into the hotel where the Correspondents' Dinner was at in the last day or two."
FBI Director Kash Patel also addressed the pool of reporters, saying a long gun and shell casings were recovered.
Allen was carrying a "shotgun, handgun and multiple knives," according to Interim Metropolitan Police Chief Jeffery Carroll, who said that although the suspect was not struck by gunfire, he was nevertheless taken to a hospital to be evaluated.
Investigations by the Secret Service and the Metropolitan Police Department in Washington, D.C. were continuing Sunday.
According to multiple media reports, Allen sent a message to his family members about 10 minutes before the disruption at the Correspondents' Dinner, calling himself the "Friendly Federal Assassin" and stating that he was trying to kill members of the administration.
"Turning the other cheek is for when you yourself are oppressed. I'm not the person raped in a detention camp. I'm not the fisherman executed without trial. I'm not a schoolkid blown up or a child starved or a teenage girl abused by the many criminals in this administration," Allen wrote, according to the California Post. "Turning the other cheek when `someone else' is oppressed is not Christian behavior; it is complicity in the oppressor's crimes."
The newspaper cited an unnamed U.S. official who said the manifesto was provided to police by a relative of Allen's. That report was later backed up by other media accounts, including an Associated Press report that said Allen's brother contacted police in New London, Connecticut, after receiving the writings.
The AP also said federal agents had contacted Allen's sister in Maryland, who allegedly told them her brother purchased several weapons from a California gun store and kept them at the Torrance home without his parents' knowledge. She added that her brother was prone to making radical statements, the report said.
In the manifesto, he allegedly said his targets Saturday night included "Administration officials ... they are targets, prioritized from highest-ranking to lowest. I am no longer willing to permit a pedophile, rapist, and traitor to coat my hands with his crimes."
Citing his LinkedIn profile, Wired magazine reported that Allen has been employed part-time since March 2020 at Torrance-based C2 Education, a private company that prepares students for college entrance exams. C2 Education provides "tutoring, test prep and college counseling," according to its website. It also named Allen on its social media accounts as Teacher of the Month in December 2024 at C2 Education.
Torrance Mayor George Chen went to the Allen home Saturday night, and told a reporter Allen was not an employee of Torrance Unified School District.
"We are aware of reports identifying the suspect as a resident of Torrance," Chen said in a statement late Saturday night. "While that connection is deeply troubling, one individual's alleged actions do not define our city or the values of the more than 143,000 residents who call Torrance home. Torrance is a community built on respect, diversity, hard work, and public safety."
Wired reported that as of 2018, Allen has been self-identifying on LinkedIn as a "self-employed" indie game developer, having apparently released on Steam an "atomic fighting game" that year called Bohrdom, which was advertised using accounts on YouTube and Twitter that appeared to have almost no following.
A game trailer caption described it as a "non-violent, skill-based, asymmetrical fighting game loosely based on a chemistry model that is itself loosely based on reality."
He graduated from the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena in 2017 with a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering, Pasadena Now reported.
"Allen's ties to Pasadena stem from his years at Caltech, where he was involved with the `Blitzkrieg Bots' robotics team, which won a robotic vehicle design competition in 2016," the news site said.
Officials at Cal State Dominguez Hills issued a statement late Saturday confirming that he graduated from the university last year.
"A student named Cole Allen graduated with a master's degree from California State University, Dominguez Hills in 2025," the statement said. "The university cannot confirm if this is the same suspect identified in the April 25 shooting at the White House Correspondents' Dinner."
Media reports indicate Allen's CSUDH degree was in computer science.
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in La Cañada Flintridge confirmed that Allen was an intern there in 2014.
"NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory unequivocally denounces violence and extends our condolences and support to all those impacted by this incident," the agency said in a statement. "We can confirm that the suspect interned at JPL for approximately three months in 2014."
Paul Thompson, a deputy Los Angeles County district attorney who is running for a seat on the county Superior Court and has a campaign sign on the front lawn of the Allen house, told the Post that he's lived next door to the family for a couple years but didn't know Cole Allen.
"I didn't really know the guy that's accused of committing the crimes in DC last night," Thompson said. "I know his parents," he said, describing them as "pretty normal, non-violent and friendly."
Shortly after being evacuated from the ballroom, Trump took to social media to recount the event.
"Quite an evening in D.C.," the president wrote on X. "Secret Service and law enforcement did a fantastic job ... The shooter has been apprehended." He said he recommended that the show go on but it was up to law enforcement, and the dinner was canceled.
After being returned to the White House, Trump stood behind a podium and made a public address before taking questions. Among his comments, he said he saw "a tremendous amount of love and coming together" in the ballroom when the shots were first heard, before he was rushed from the scene. "I heard a noise. I thought it was a tray going down. It was a gun," Trump said.
He reflected on the video showing the man running toward the ballroom.
"He was like a blur on tape. They didn't let him get through," Trump said. He said one Secret Service agent was shot but was saved because he was "wearing a very good bullet-proof vest." The president said, "He's doing great. Great shape. Very high spirits."
Law enforcement performed "exactly as they were supposed to," he said.
"Not a particularly secure building," Trump said of the ballroom, where has attended multiple events during his time in office. He said the new ballroom he is building in place of the demolished East Wing of the White House will be more secure, and that there has been great demand for it by previous presidents.
"It's a dangerous profession," he said about the job.
Asked why he feels he has been the target of multiple apparent assassination attempts, he said, "The people that do the most ... make the biggest impact ... they go after them," he said. "I hate to say I'm honored by that."
He said he hoped the dinner could be rescheduled within the next 30 days.
"I was set to really rip it," Trump said. "I'll be very boring the next time."
Trump was expected to speak further about the case on CBS' "60 Minutes" Sunday night.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom posted on X to say he was "relieved everyone at the White House Correspondents' Dinner is safe tonight based on initial reports. A free press is foundational to our country. Violence is never acceptable."
California Republican Party Chairwoman Corrin Rankin also issued a statement, condemning repeated instances of politically related violence.
"The attempted assassination of President Trump and mass shooting [near] other guests at the White House Correspondents' Dinner was a terrible act of violence," Rankin said. "This violence must stop now. Democrats must end their violent rhetoric; their words have consequences and are causing real harm.
"The assassination of Charlie Kirk and the multiple assassination attempts on President Trump's life prove that violent rhetoric is creating a deadly environment. The California GOP stands with President Trump and every victim of political violence."
Rep. Nannette Barragán, D-San Pedro, said she attended the dinner as a guest of C-SPAN.
"It's absolute chaos. Heard the shots and had to get under our table," she said. "Grateful for the immediate response from the USSS and security as they worked to apprehend the shooter and secure the area. Political violence is never, EVER the answer. It must end."
The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department stated it is "closely monitoring the evolving situation following reports of shots fired at the White House Correspondents' Dinner. We are in communication with our federal, state and local law enforcement partners and will continue to assess any potential impacts to Los Angeles County. Currently, there are no known credible threats to our community.
"We have proactively reviewed our deployment plans, enhanced coordination with our patrol stations, and ensured that additional resources are available should they be needed. These measures are precautionary and part of our ongoing commitment to preparedness and community safety. We encourage the public to remain vigilant and report any suspicious activity to local law enforcement," the department stated.