White House correspondents’ dinner shooting: Timeline of chaos

Moments after the head of the White House Correspondents Association welcomed President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump to its annual dinner to celebrate journalism on Saturday evening, gunshots sounded outside the doors of the Washington Hilton Hotel’s International Ballroom.

Within seconds, the festive occasion attended by more than 2,000 journalists, government officials and other newsmakers erupted in chaos, as Secret Service agents hustled Trump and the first lady off stage.

Unbeknownst to those inside the ballroom, an alleged gunman, later identified by authorities as 31-year-old Cole Allen of Torrance, California, had bolted through a security checkpoint and past Secret Service agents in an attempt to get into the event and perpetrate “as much damage as he could,” sources told ABC News.

Allen — allegedly armed with a shotgun and other weapons — was taken down and arrested before he could enter the ballroom after officials said he exchanged shots with Secret Service agents. During the incident, a Uniformed Division Secret Service officer was hit, but whose life was saved by his bulletproof vest, officials said.

Here is a timeline of events leading up to Saturday night’s shooting and its unfolding aftermath:

7 p.m. ET — Guests, dressed in tuxedos and ballgowns, walk the red carpet outside the ballroom, taking pictures and conducting interviews. Secretary of State Marco Rubio tells C-SPAN, which was broadcasting the event live, “It’s one night in which a lot of people that maybe don’t see each other every day get to see each other.”

8:13 p.m. — Members of the White House Correspondents Association board of directors and White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt step up to the head table and dais at the front of the ballroom.

8:15 p.m. — Vice President JD Vance is introduced and takes his place on the dais.

8:16 p.m. — “Ladies and gentlemen, the 45th and 47th president of the United States, Donald J. Trump and first lady Melania Trump,” an announcer says over the loudspeaker as the U.S. Marine Band, also on stage, plays “Hail to the Chief.”

8:17 p.m. — The Joint Armed Forces Color Guard marches up to the stage to present the U.S. flag, followed by the singing of “The Star-Spangled Banner” by Marine Master Gunnery Sgt. Kevin Bennear.

8:20 p.m. — Weijia Jiang, president of the White House Correspondents’ Association and CBS’s senior White House correspondent, gives opening remarks, thanking Trump and the first lady for attending. “It is meaningful that you are with us tonight,” Jiang tells the first couple.

8:30 p.m. — Waiters begin serving the first course — salad — to the attendees.

8:34 p.m. — Mentalist Oz Pearlman, the scheduled headliner of the dinner, is seen on stage performing a trick for Trump, the first lady and Leavitt. Pearlman later tells ABC News that he was guessing the name of the baby Leavitt is expecting.

8:36 p.m. — Just as Pearlman reveals the name of Leavitt’s unborn child, a loud noise is heard coming from just outside the rear doors of the ballroom. A shocked look appears on Melania Trump’s face. A Secret Service agent rushes on stage and stands in front of Trump, scanning the room. Members of the audience are seen ducking under tables.

8:37 p.m. — A C-SPAN announcer reports, “We understand shots have been fired at the dinner.” More Secret Service agents rush onto the stage, some dressed in full tactical gear and armed with rifles. Agents quickly surround Trump and the first lady and begin to rush them off stage, at one point taking them both to the ground for cover. An agent is seen grabbing Vance by his jacket and hustling him off stage.

8:37 p.m. — Members of Trump’s cabinet — including Rubio, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — are also seen being led out of the hall by Secret Service agents.

9:24 p.m. — Secret Service spokesperson Anthony Guglielmi posts a statement on social media, saying the agency and the Washington, D.C., Metropolitan Police Department are “investigating a shooting incident near the main magnetometer screening area at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. The president and the first lady are safe along with all protectees. One individual is in custody.”

9:17 p.m. — Trump posts a statement on his social media platform, writing, “Law Enforcement did a fantastic job. They acted quickly and bravely. The shooter has been apprehended.”

9:36 p.m. — Trump posts on his social media platform that he, the first lady, Vance and members of his cabinet “are in perfect condition” and that he would be holding a press conference in the White House Press Briefing Room in 30 minutes.

9:39 p.m. — Jiang returns to the podium and tells the crowd, “Law enforcement has requested we leave the premises consistent with protocol.”

10:29 p.m. — Trump posts on social media surveillance video of the suspect charging through the security checkpoint outside the Hilton ballroom and out of frame as Secret Service agents draw their weapons and give chase.

10:33 p.m. — Trump, the first lady and members of his cabinet enter the White House Press Briefing Room. Flanked by Vance, FBI Director Kash Patel, Department of Homeland Security Director Markwayne Mullin and Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, the president says, “That was very unexpected, but incredibly acted upon by Secret Service and law enforcement.”

Trump says a man armed with “multiple weapons” charged a security checkpoint and was taken down and arrested by members of Secret Service. He says one officer was shot, “but was saved by the fact that he was wearing, obviously, a very good bulletproof vest.”

11:08 p.m. — Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser holds a joint news conference with Jeanine Pirro, U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, Secret Service Director Sean Curran and Interim Chief Jeff Carroll of the Metropolitan Police Department.

“We have no reason to believe at this time that anyone else was involved,” Bowser says of the shooting.

Carroll said the suspect was armed with a shotgun, a handgun and multiple knives. “We do know that law enforcement exchanged gunfire with the individual,” he says.

Pierro says that the suspect is being charged with two counts of using a firearm during a crime of violence and assault on a federal officer using a dangerous weapon.

April 26 — Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche appears on ABC’s “This Week” and says “the system worked” by keeping Trump and other leaders safe from the shooting at the White House correspondents’ dinner.

“The man barely got past the perimeter. And so when you have a perimeter designed to keep people safe, like President Trump, and it works — that’s something that should be applauded,” Blanche tells “This Week” anchor George Stephanopoulos when asked about the fact that the president and many members of the presidential line of succession were there.

April 27 — The suspect, Cole Allen, makes his first court appearance on charges of attempted assassination of the President of the United States, transportation of a firearm and ammunition over state lines with intent to commit a felony and discharge of a firearm during a crime of violence. The first count of attempting to assassinate the president carries a maximum sentence of life in prison, if convicted.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Jocelyn Ballantine says in court that the suspect attempted to assassinate Trump using a 12-gauge pump action shotgun and says he was also carrying a .38 caliber semi-automatic pistol, three knives “and other dangerous paraphernalia.”