Suspected gunman at Washington press dinner identified as 31-year-old Californian

BBC

The man arrested after shots were fired inside the hotel where the White House Correspondents' Dinner was being held on Saturday night has been named by law enforcement officials as Cole Tomas Allen.

The 31-year-old suspect is from Torrance, in the Los Angeles region of California.

After he was detained by security agents inside the Washington Hilton hotel, he told law enforcement officials he wanted to shoot officials in the Trump administration, two sources told CBS, the BBC's US news partner.

In Sunday's interview with NBC's Meet the Press, acting US Attorney General Todd Blanche said the motive of the suspected shooter was still under investigation, but that "preliminary" findings suggested he was targeting administration officials, "likely" including President Donald Trump.

Blanche said investigators were now looking at reports that the alleged gunman had assembled the weapon in the hotel, stressing that he "didn't get very far".

"He barely broke the perimeter," Blanche said, adding that the suspect likely travelled by train from Los Angeles to Chicago, and then to Washington DC.

Exchanged fire

Citing its sources, CBS also said that at least five to eight gunshots were fired during the incident. CCTV footage posted by Trump shows a person rushing past security officers, who then turn and chase him.

At an earlier news conference, police said that security officials and the suspect exchanged fire, without saying how many shots were fired.

Washington interim police chief Jeffery Carroll said the suspect was not struck by gunfire but was taken to the hospital for evaluation.

The suspect was a guest at the Washington Hilton hotel where the correspondents' dinner was taking place, Carroll said, adding that he was "armed with a shotgun, a handgun, and multiple knives".

"At this point, it does appear he is a lone actor, a lone gunman," the police chief said.

Trump later posted a close-up photo showing a shirtless man on the floor with his hands cuffed behind his back, with Secret Service standing around him.

On Sunday, Trump told Fox News that the suspect "had a lot of hatred in his heart for a while" and said his family knew he had "difficulties". He added that the suspect had a "manifesto" and suggested he was "strongly anti-Christian". Read more here: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cr717nglye0o