Surveillance footage reviewed by The Washington Post shows that Cole Tomas Allen appeared to raise his shotgun in the direction of a Secret Service officer who then fired at him at least four times as he bolted through a security checkpoint outside Saturday’s White House correspondents’ dinner.
The video, a much higher resolution version of the security camera footage President Donald Trump posted to social media that night, does not capture every gunshot that authorities say was fired. But it provides the clearest picture yet of the four seconds between when Allen burst out of a doorway in full sprint and when he exited the frame, falling to the ground at the top of a staircase leading to the ballroom at the Washington Hilton where Trump sat near Vice President JD Vance and multiple members of his Cabinet.
The footage shows the officer drew his weapon within two seconds of Allen’s arrival. The officer fired multiple times at Allen — and in the general direction of other security personnel as Allen ran past them.
There is no indication in the footage reviewed by The Post that Allen fired his weapon, though authorities have charged him with discharging a firearm during a crime of violence. The footage shows no obvious flash from the muzzle of the shotgun before the suspect runs out of the frame.
Authorities have said in charging documents that officers heard “a loud gunshot” as Allen ran through the security checkpoint holding a long gun. The documents say the officer was shot a single time in his protective vest, and that same officer “drew his service weapon and fired multiple times” at Allen. The officer, whose name has not been made public, was treated for unspecified injuries and has been released.
Allen, 31, sprinted roughly 60 feet through the corridor. He was not struck by gunfire, authorities have said.
The Secret Service did not answer questions from The Post about the lack of a visible muzzle flash from the shotgun or about the officer firing in close proximity to other security personnel. The agency said its security measures are “rigorously tested” and “were critical in mitigating the threat and preventing significant harm.” It referred The Post to the D.C. U.S. attorney’s office, which did not immediately respond to requests for comment late Tuesday.
Allen, of Torrance, California, was also charged with attempting to assassinate the president and transporting firearms across state lines.
Acting attorney general Todd Blanche said Monday that a used shell was found inside the shotgun and that investigators were confident he had fired. Explaining his hesitancy to definitively address the source of the round that is said to have struck the Secret Service officer, Blanche added: “We want to get that right. We’re still looking at that.” Blanche’s caution was a shift from his remarks a day earlier, when he said on ABC that officials preliminarily believed the suspected gunman had shot the officer.
In addition to reviewing the footage, The Post obtained screenshots of key moments for publication.
Just after 8:30 p.m., as waiters cleared salad plates in the ballroom, Allen emerged from a side door on the floor above and ran toward the security checkpoint, his shotgun pointed at the ground, the video reviewed by The Post shows. At least nine security personnel are visible. Two are disassembling a magnetometer, which is flat on the ground, while others lean against a wall. Most seem not to notice Allen’s approach. Only one, a Secret Service officer, appears to react as Allen nears the checkpoint.
The officer reaches for his gun as Allen approaches a still-standing magnetometer. They raise their weapons nearly simultaneously, but the footage only makes clear that the officer fires. The officer does not visibly react then — or at any point in the footage — in an obvious manner that indicates he has been shot.
In the footage, four muzzle flashes can be seen from the officer’s handgun before he moves offscreen.
The officer’s first three shots at Allen are fired in the general direction of other security personnel, including three Transportation Security Administration agents. The TSA did not return a request for comment.
As the officer fires the fourth shot, the alleged gunman moves out of view of the camera.
The agents from the TSA, which often deploys unarmed personnel and equipment to events with special security requirements, appear to flinch and then run for cover. A security officer spins around and draws his handgun. The two others who had been dismantling the metal detector draw their guns as well, though there is no indication in the footage that any of the three fire.
Live streams from inside the ballroom captured the sound of six shots, according to Rob Maher, an audio forensics expert at Montana State University, who reviewed the recordings at The Post’s request. All the gunshots take place within 1.4 seconds, he said. The surveillance video reviewed by The Post does not include audio.
Allen fell to the ground and suffered minor injuries but was not shot, according to charging documents. He was arrested.
An MS NOW reporter visiting the site after the shooting posted a video on social media showing holes in the wall near where Allen had fallen. The holes appear to match the general trajectory of the last shot the officer fired before stepping out of sight in the surveillance video.
The holes are more consistent with handgun rounds than impacts from a shotgun, said Rick Vasquez, a firearms consultant and former chief of the firearms technology branch at the agency then named the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, who reviewed the public security surveillance video and other imagery.
At a news conference on Monday, Blanche was asked how many shots were fired. He said a team was collecting evidence at the hotel but that such determinations are not “an exact science.” For example, he said, buckshot from a shotgun — a type of ammunition Allen allegedly said he planned to use — “scatters everywhere, and sometimes it just disappears, actually, depending on where it hits.”
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