Cole Tomas Allen has been identified as the alleged gunman who opened fire outside the White House correspondents’ dinner on Saturday, forcing the evacuation of President Donald Trump.
Allen, 31, traveled by train from Los Angeles (where he lives and works as an educator in nearby Torrance) to Chicago, and then another train from Chicago to Washington, D.C., on Friday, after which he checked into the Washington Hilton Hotel, where the Correspondents’ Dinner was being held. CBS News Reports.
In the wake of the incident, details emerged about Allen’s history: He earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the prestigious California Institute of Technology in 2017 and then received a master’s degree in computer science from California State University, Dominguez Hills, in 2025.
A high school classmate told NBC News that Allen was a “borderline genius” and “super stable.” “Other people study a lot,” said the classmate. “He didn’t have to study. It just occurred to him. He was very, very smart.”
While at CalTech, Allen appeared in a local news report in 2017 for developing a prototype emergency brake for wheelchairs.
In addition to working as an educator at a Torrance tutoring company, Allen’s LinkedIn page states that he is also a freelance video game developer, and one of his games is reportedly available on the Steam marketplace.
Authorities told CBS News that Allen legally purchased the shotgun used in Saturday’s shooting in August 2025, as well as another firearm purchased in 2023. After his arrest, a search warrant was obtained for Allen’s Los Angeles-area residence and his cell phone was seized. While he was not cooperating with authorities, people who knew him were talking to authorities.
Federal campaign records revealed that Allen donated $25 to an ActBlue PAC linked to Kamala Harris’ 2024 presidential campaign, but authorities said they were still investigating Allen’s motive for the “lone wolf” targeting members of the Trump administration.
“We are still trying to understand a motive. Based on our preliminary investigation, it appears that the suspect was targeting members of the administration,” said Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche. he told CNN. “We don’t have details yet on particular members of the administration, except that we understand that was their goal and purpose.”
Blanche added: “We are still investigating what we knew, if anything, about this individual. It appears he purchased the two firearms he owned in recent years. He also had knives.”
Allen is due to appear in federal court on Monday, where he will be charged with one count of use of a firearm during a violent crime and assault on a federal officer using a dangerous weapon, with additional charges likely to be filed.
“There are a lot of federal charges that could be in play beyond those two charges, but it depends on us understanding his motive, his intent, his premeditation of what led him to decide that he was going to do what he did,” Blanche said.
