Trump Heads Toward Banquet Hall as a Shot Rings Out ... Gunman Was 31 and a Top University Graduate [Attempted Assassination of Trump]

Cole Tomas Allen, a 31-year-old man who attacked a White House event in Washington, D.C., on the 25th local time, was taken into custody at the scene, and investigators are now moving quickly to determine his motive and whether anyone was behind the attack. It was already the third assassination attempt targeting Donald Trump in the past two years.
For now, investigators are only speculating that the crime may have been driven by resentment over Trump's words and policies, or by opposition to the war with Iran.
At a press conference, Trump said of Allen's actions, "They seem to think it was a lone act. I think so too." When asked whether the motive was related to the war with Iran, Trump said, "I don't think so," but added, "But you never know. We will learn a lot through the investigation."

CNN reported shortly after the incident, citing Allen's LinkedIn profile, that he earned a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) in 2017. It also said he received a master's degree in computer science from California State University, Dominguez Hills (CSUDH) last year. Allen is believed to have lived in Torrance, California.
Allen participated in NASA's summer undergraduate program and also worked as a teaching assistant at Caltech. After graduating, he worked as a technician in Los Angeles. Since March 2020, he had been working as a substitute teacher at a college admissions education company called C2 Education. In his LinkedIn profile, Allen described himself as a game developer.
Allen allegedly entered the White House Correspondents' Dinner venue at the Washington Hilton in Washington, D.C., carrying a shotgun, a pistol, and multiple knives, and then fired at security personnel. Trump, who was evacuated from the scene, held a press conference later that day and described Allen as "a person with very serious mental problems." Jeffery W. Carroll, acting chief of the Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia (MPD), said when asked whether Allen had actually tried to storm the venue to target Trump, "That will be part of the investigation." He added, "We know the president, members of the administration, and many attendees were in the banquet hall." Trump also said at the press conference, when asked whether he believed he had been the target, "Probably so."
The investigation is being led by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)'s counterterrorism division. Jeanine Pirro, a prosecutor in the Office of the Attorney General for the District of Columbia, said, "The suspect has been provisionally charged with two counts, including firearm use and assaulting an officer with a dangerous weapon," adding that he is scheduled to appear in federal court on the 27th.

Trump has faced assassination threats even before becoming president. On July 13, 2024, while campaigning in Butler, Pennsylvania, he was shot at from a stage. Thomas Matthew Crooks, the 20-year-old gunman who died at the scene, fired eight rifle rounds at Trump, who suffered a grazing wound to the upper part of his right ear. On September 15 of the same year, Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, aimed a rifle at Trump while he was playing golf at a course in West Palm Beach, Florida, but fled after being shot at by the Secret Service. Routh is currently serving a life sentence.


pjw@fnnews.com Park Jong-won Reporter