Washington shooter claims target was administration officials, not Trump

Cole Allen, the man detained after the shooting at a Washington Hilton event attended by US President Donald Trump, has told law enforcement that his target was “administration officials” rather than the president himself.

Allen said he intended to target members of Trump’s team, CBS News reports, citing sources.

One law enforcement source noted that the suspect did not specifically name Trump as a target, referring instead to “administration officials.”

US federal prosecutor in Washington Jeanine Pirro said the suspect is scheduled to appear in court on April 27, adding that additional charges are expected once the investigation is completed.

"It is clear, based upon what we know so far, that this individual was intent on doing as much harm and as much damage as he could," Pirro added.

In a separate report, CNN, citing sources, identified the suspect as a 31-year-old man from California. The outlet reported that a LinkedIn profile matching Allen’s name and photo lists him as a part-time instructor at C2 Education, a test preparation and tutoring company.

According to the profile, Allen graduated from the California Institute of Technology in 2017 with a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering and received a master’s degree in computer science last year from California State University, Dominguez Hills.

Federal Election Commission records also indicate that in October 2024 he donated $25 to Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign.

By Jeyhun Aghazada