In its latest legal filings, the Department of Justice removed a claim that a Secret Service officer was shot when Cole Allen allegedly tried to breach the White House Correspondents’ Dinner with firearms on Saturday.
The Department asserted in its probable cause affidavit over the weekend that Allen “approached and ran through the magnetometer holding a long gun.”
“As he did so, U.S. Secret Service personnel assigned to the checkpoint heard a loud gunshot. U.S. Secret Service Officer V.G. was shot once in the chest; Officer V.G. was wearing a ballistic vest at the time,” the affidavit said. “Officer V.G. drew his service weapon and fired multiple times at ALLEN, who fell to the ground and suffered minor injuries but was not shot.”
On Wednesday, however, there was no mention of the officer’s shooting in the government’s memorandum in support of pretrial detention.
“Shortly after 8:30 p.m., the defendant approached a USSS security screening checkpoint located on the Terrace Level of the hotel,” the document stated. “Before the defendant approached the checkpoint, he discarded a long black coat that concealed a 12-gauge pump-action shotgun. The defendant then sprinted through one of the magnetometers at the checkpoint and ran in the direction of the stairs leading to the ballroom where the President and members of his family and Cabinet were located.”
“As the defendant did so, he held a shotgun in both hands in a raised position parallel to the ground. A USSS officer observed the defendant fire the shotgun in the direction of the stairs leading down to the ballroom,” the filing continued. “The USSS officer drew his service weapon and fired five times at the defendant. The defendant fell to the ground, was restrained by law enforcement, and was placed under arrest.”
During a press conference this week, acting Attorney General Todd Blanche refused to say whether Allen had shot the officer.
“We want to get that right, so we’re still looking at that,” he insisted. “As far as getting into exacting ballistics, I’m not going to do that today because it’s still being looked at and finalized.”
“It’s not an exact science,” he added. “It scatters everywhere. Sometimes it just disappears actually.”
Initial reports said the officer was hit in the chest and saved by a bulletproof vest.
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