Photos of the White House Correspondents’ Dinner shooter posted online by President Donald Trump on Saturday night appear to match the LinkedIn profile of Cole Allen.
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Multiple outlets, including the Associated Press, have reported that Allen is the suspect now in custody. Business Insider was not able to independently confirm the suspect’s identity. Authorities have not yet publicly identified the suspect by name.
Trump told Fox News on Sunday that the suspect left a “manifesto” that called for the targeting of Trump administration officials.
Here’s what we know so far.
Allen, 31, is a resident of Torrance, California. Police conducted a raid on a home in Torrance overnight. Allen describes himself on his LinkedIn as a “mechanical engineer and computer scientist by degree, independent game developer by experience, teacher by birth.”
His current job is listed as part-time teacher at C2 Education, which provides “personalized support designed to improve test scores, strengthen academic skills, and help students reach their full potential.”
Allen has been in the role for six years, according to his LinkedIn profile, while also independently designing and building video games, including one he calls “Bohrdom.” Allen described the game online as “a skill-based, non-violent asymmetrical fighting game loosely derived from a chemistry model that is itself loosely based on reality.”
He graduated from the California Institute of Technology in 2017 with a degree in mechanical engineering. He then earned his master’s in computer science from California State University, Dominguez Hills in 2025, according to his LinkedIn profile. He also held a summer student fellowship at NASA in 2014, where he worked at the agency’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
Jeffrey Carroll, the interim chief of the Metropolitan Police Department in Washington, DC, said during a press conference after the shooting on Saturday night that Allen was armed with a shotgun, handgun, and knives when he tried to bypass a security checkpoint at the event.
In a video Trump posted to his TruthSocial account, the shooter can be seen running at full speed past security officers.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche told Margaret Brennan on CBS’s “Face the Nation” on Sunday morning that the shooter traveled from Los Angeles to Chicago to DC by train. Blanche also said that the shooter was not cooperating with law enforcement.
Jeanine Pirro, the US Attorney for the District of Columbia, said the defendant has been charged with two counts of using a firearm during a crime of violence and one count of assault on a law enforcement officer using a dangerous weapon. He will be arraigned on Monday.
