In a major security scare at the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner attended by US President Donald Trump, the first lady, Melania Trump, and Vice President JD Vance, an armed gunman was intercepted by Secret Service agents before he could reach the ballroom hosting nearly 2,500 guests, including journalists, politicians and other prominent figures.
The security forces overpowered the suspect after a brief shootout, during which one personnel was also shot in the chest area but a bullet-proof vest saved his life.
US President Trump, and other protectees who were present at the ballroom when the shots were being fired, were swiftly evacuated by Secret Service agents.
The suspect was later identified as Cole Thomas Allen and President Trump shared images of him pinned to the ground.
Here is everything we know about Cole Thomas Allen
Online profiles linked to Allen, though unverified, describe him as a mechanical engineer and computer science graduate based in the Los Angeles area.
According to the profiles, he completed a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from California State University-Dominguez Hills.
His professional history, as per the social media and LinkedIn profiles, reportedly includes work as a mechanical engineer with IJK Controls and a teaching assistant role at California Institute of Technology.
Allen was also associated with C2 Education, where he worked as a part-time teacher, helping students with college preparation programmes. A viral social media post even recognised Allen as “teacher of the month”.
He is also said to be a gamer and reportedly developed science-themed video games, including “Bohrdom” and “First Law”. Allen has also shared plans for developing another space-based shooting game.
Some reports also claimed that Allen was an intern at NASA in 2014, where he worked on AI models for mapping planets.