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Shooter Stopped at Correspondents’ Dinner; President Escorted to Safety — What We Know
At 8:36pm last night’s White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner, a lone gunman ran through the last security checkpoint outside the ballroom of the Washington Hilton Hotel. The incident took place while President Trump, and the First Lady were seated at the head table. Throughout the room were almost every Secretary and Cabinet level person, members of media outlets and key guests. Over 2,000 guests filled the massive ballroom.
As the event was set to start, a lone gunman sprinted through the last checkpoint in the lobby area, outside the ballroom. He was armed with multiple weapons – a shotgun, handgun and multiple knives. As he ran he shot at one security agent who took the shot in his bullet proof vest, and is said to be doing well.
The ballroom was locked down, with attendees told to get down. Hundreds of people were seen taking cover under tables. As this happened, key attendees with security coverage were evacuated. Erika Kirk was seen visibly upset, crouched under the table. Wolf Blitzer of CNN was coming out of the lobby area men’s room and in a first person account said he was very close to the gunman. Blitzer said that security jumped on top of him to protect him, taking him down to the floor.
The President and First Lady were surrounded and immediately taken away – the President stumbled slightly in the melee and regained his footing and was escorted to a secure Presidential room.
Reporters began doing what they do – they took their phones out and started reporting – some from under tables in whispers as the incident played out.
It was quickly learned that the shooter had been taken down, was not killed, and a search began to be sure there were no other assailants.
The President and even the head of the Correspondents group told the crowd to stay put that the event would begin again. However, after a short time it was determined that the event should not continue based on Secret Service recommendations.
Allen, who is registered to vote with no party preference, graduated from CalTech in 2017 with a degree in mechanical engineering. While at CalTech, he was a member of the school’s Christian fellowship and the nerf club, according to his LinkedIn profile.
He was featured in a CalTech graduation announcement posted by the university in 2017 on Facebook, which included a picture of him as an adult wearing a cardigan and red tie and a photo of him as a beaming young child holding a stuffed bunny.
From LinkedIn
Allen also earned a master’s degree in computer science at Cal State Dominguez Hills in 2025, according to a commencement program. His LinkedIn profile picture shows him sitting in his cap and gown with the caption: “pretty sure my Master’s in CS is done.” On his profile he describes himself as a game developer, engineer, scientist and teacher.
Allen was named teacher of the month in December 2024 at C2 Education, which specializes in college test preparation, tutoring and academic advising. A representative for C2 Education was not immediately available for comment.
Dylan Wakayama, president of the Asian American Civic Trust, said Allen tutored several high school students who are members of the organization, a Torrance-based non-profit.
“They thought he was very intelligent, proficient in biology, mathematics and science. They thought he was on the nicer, quiet side. They were completely shocked when I told them that this all went down,” he said. In other reports he was described as a “borderline genius”.
“I think all of us in Torrance would be shocked if this is the man who attempted to kill the president of the United States,” he said
In addition to his part-time work at C2 Education, he’s also self-employed, according to his LinkedIn, identifying as an “indie game developer.”
He registered a trademark in 2019 for “Bohrdom” an atomic fighting game he created and released on Steam, an online game platform. The game is described on the website as a “skill-based, non-violent asymmetrical fighting game loosely derived from a chemistry model that is itself loosely based on reality. Alternatively, think of it as a hybrid of a bullet hell and a racing game, with the inclusion of self-propelled pinballs.”
