Cole Thomas Allen, of Torrance, California, was arrested after the shooting at the Washington Hilton, where Trump was scheduled to deliver a speech to a ballroom packed with reporters, Cabinet officials and Hilton employees. Allen’s name had surfaced in media reports shortly before Trump posted two photos of him after he was suspected of being a suspect. The man seen in photos posted by Trump matches Allen’s photos.
In dramatic scenes, several shots were heard outside the ballroom, after which Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance were immediately escorted off the stage by the United States Secret Service. Shortly after the shooting, it appeared that the program would go ahead – Trump posted “Let the Show Go On” on Truth Social – but the program was ultimately shut down.
According to the Metropolitan Police Department, the suspect “charged” a Secret Service checkpoint at the Hilton Hotel, and was restrained by agents. MPD Interim Chief Jeffrey Carroll said the suspect was armed with a “shotgun, handgun, and multiple knives.”
At a press conference at the White House after the shooting, Trump said that a United States Secret Service agent was shot but escaped serious injury because of his bulletproof vest. Trump said the agent, who was not named, was “doing a great job” and was “in good shape.” There was no immediate information about any other injuries.
The suspect was later taken to a local hospital “for evaluation,” according to Carroll, who said he appeared to be a “lone actor.”
As Trump’s press conference began on Saturday night, he posted a photo on his Truth social account showing the suspected attacker lying on the ground, his hands tied behind his back, and the lower half of his body covered with a foil warming blanket.
A WIRED review of public databases shows that the online presence with Allen’s name appears to be minimal. According to his LinkedIn profile, he earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Caltech in 2017 and a master’s degree in computer science from California State University Dominguez Hills in 2025. A candid photo of Allen that appears on Caltech’s website identifies him as a member of the school’s Mechanical Engineering 72 class, described by the school as a “two-term engineering design lab” to build robots and autonomous vehicles. His name is also listed in the 2025 Dominguez Hills graduation program. A search of public facial recognition databases turns up only two images, both apparently of her graduating class.
According to the suspected shooter’s LinkedIn profile, he has been employed part-time since March 2020 at C2 Education, a private company that helps students prepare for the SAT and ACT exams. In December 2024, C2 Education said in posts on LinkedIn and Facebook that he was the company’s “December Teacher of the Month”.
Since 2018, the suspected shooter has identified himself as a “self-employed” indie game developer on his LinkedIn profile. It appears that they released a “nuclear battle game” called Bohordom on Steam in 2018. The game’s advertisement on YouTube and the caption of the game’s trailer describe it as “a non-violent, skill-based, asymmetric fighting game based on a chemistry model that is based on reality itself.”
C2 Education did not immediately respond to requests for comment. When contacted for comment, the Metropolitan Police Department referred WIRED to a video of its public press conference.
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