Man due in court over Washington gala shooting

Chaos erupted at a Washington DC media gala over the weekend, and the man arrested after the shooting is expected to appear in court later today.

The acting US Attorney General said investigators believe US President Donald Trump and members of his administration were the “likely” targets of the suspected gunman who tried to force his way into the White House Correspondents’ Dinner.

Late on Saturday, a person carrying a shotgun, a handgun and knives ran through a hotel security checkpoint toward the ballroom hosting the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner.

Cole Tomas Allen was taken into custody at the scene inside the Washington Hilton hotel

Mr Trump, senior administration figures and hundreds of guests from politics and the media were attending the event.

As shots rang out, US Secret Service agents hurried Mr Trump and First Lady Melania Trump off the stage in what the president later called an attack by a “would-be assassin”.

Speaking to reporters at a White House briefing after the incident, Mr Trump said the Secret Service agent who was hit was protected by a bulletproof vest and was in “good shape”.

US Secret Service spokesperson Anthony Guglielmi said the officer had since been released from hospital.

Watch: Moment Trump rushed from stage after shooting at event

Secret Service personnel detained a man at the hotel. Authorities identified him as 31-year-old Cole Tomas Allen, who lived in Los Angeles.

Officials said he had checked into the hotel a day or two before the dinner and that he sent a manifesto to family members shortly before the attack.

Mr Trump told reporters he believed he had been the intended target. The president has survived two previous attempts on his life since 2024, during a period of intensifying political polarisation in the United States.

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“The guy is a sick guy,” Mr Trump told Fox News yesterday. “When you read his manifesto, he hates Christians.”

“His sister or his brother actually was complaining about it. You know, they were even complaining to law enforcement. He was a very troubled guy.”

An official said the suspect referred to himself as the “Friendly Federal Assassin.”

Mr Allen is due in court later today, where he is expected to be formally charged with assault of a federal officer and using a firearm during a crime of violence.

Additional reporting: AFP/Reuters