US President Donald Trump was reported uninjured and other top leaders of the United States were rushed off stage from an annual dinner of White House correspondents after a shooting incident at the venue.
Trump addressed the media a few hours after the incident, in which said a shooting suspect was armed with multiple weapons before being stopped by Secret Service.
Video posted by Trump showed a suspect running past security barricade as Secret Service agents ran toward him.
The shooting suspect was identified as Cole Tomas Allen, 31, of Torrance, California, two law enforcement officials told The Associated Press.
Trump said the suspect was armed with multiple weapons before stopped by Secret Service. One officer was shot, but he was protected by a bulletproof vest.
“He was shot from very close distance with a very powerful gun, and the vest did the job,” Trump said.
Authorities said the incident occurred outside the ballroom where Trump and other guests were seated.
Trump, describing what was going through his mind as the shots rang out, said he initially believed it was a tray being dropped, noting that the noise was “quite far away.” But the first lady, he said, was “very cognisant” that it was a shooting.
“I think she knew immediately what happened,” the president said, recalling that his wife told him, “That’s a bad noise.”
The president said the motivation of the shooter was unclear, but said that “he was a guy who looked pretty evil when he was down".
Interim DC police chief Carroll said the shooting suspect was believed to have been a hotel guest, and the intended target was unknown.
One law enforcement official said a shooter opened fire in the hotel, although there did not appear to be any injuries.
Moment Trump is rushed from White House event after gunshots fired - Watch on TVNZ+
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said charges would be filed shortly and that the nature of the charges would be obvious considering what had happened at the dinner. Blanche stressed that “the investigation is obviously ongoing and just started".
FBI Director Kash Patel said the agency was examining a long gun and shell casings recovered from the scene, as well as interviewing witnesses from the dinner. He urged anyone with information to come forward.
Trump confirmed on social media: "The shooter has been apprehended".
He posted shortly after the incident, calling it "quite an evening".
"Secret Service and Law Enforcement did a fantastic job," he wrote.
"They acted quickly and bravely."
Trump said he wanted the event to continue but he would be "entirely guided by Law Enforcement".
"Regardless of that decision, the evening will be much different than planned, and we'll just, plain, have to do it again."
The Secret Service and other authorities swarmed the banquet hall at the Washington Hilton as guests dining on burrata salad sought cover under tables by the hundreds.
“Out of the way, sir!” someone yelled. Others shouted to seek cover.
From one corner, a “God Bless America” chant began as Trump was escorted off stage. He fell briefly — he apparently tripped — and was helped up by Secret Service agents.
Guest evacuating the ballroom had to step over many broken plates and glasses.
A law enforcement official confirmed there was a shooter but no further details were immediately available. All officials protected by the Secret Service were evacuated.
Organisers had attempted to resume the dinner.
The president repeatedly said he wanted to continue the dinner until law enforcement said otherwise, insisted it would be rescheduled and would happen. He stressed that the event will be “better” and “we’ll make it safer.”
“I see so many tuxedos and beautiful dresses,” Trump said. “It was a little different evening than we thought. But we’re going to do it again.”
Some in the crowd reported hearing what they believed to be five to eight shots fired.
The banquet hall — where hundreds of prominent journalists, celebrities and national leaders were awaiting Trump's speech — was immediately evacuated.
Members of the National Guard took up position inside the building as people were allowed to leave but not re-enter. Security outside was also extremely tight.
As he described the sequence of events, Trump emphasised that the shooter still remained a far distance from the ballroom where thousands of people had gathered for the dinner.
“He hadn’t anywhere close to breached the doors of the ballroom,” the president said.
A law enforcement official confirmed there was a shooter but no further details were immediately available. Those in attendance included Trump, Vice President JD Vance, Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Generally, the Hilton hotel, where the dinner has taken place for years, remains open to regular guests during the White House Correspondents' Dinner.
Security has typically been focused on the ballroom and rather than the hotel at large, with little screening for people not entering the dinner itself.
In past years, that has created openings for disruptions in the lobby and other public spaces, including protests in which security moved to remove guests who unfurled banners or staged demonstrations.
US Attorney Jeanine Pirro posted a short video from the hotel after the incident, saying, “I have been taken out of the ballroom after the sound of the shots fired.
"The Secret Service is now in charge of this building, this hotel. I just spoke to Mayor Murial Bowser. She is on her way and (Police) Chief Jeffery Carroll is on his way.
"He will be in charge as soon as he gets here.”
Event was about to take place
Trump's attendance at the annual Washington dinner for his first time as president had earlier been expected to put his administration's often-contentious relationship with the press on full public display.
Trump entered the subterranean banquet hall of the Washington Hilton to the strains of “Hail to the Chief” and greeted prominent journalists on the dais, also pausing to laud White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt with a cheerful pointing of his finger.
He arrived to an event where the leaders of a nation at war mingled with celebrities and journalists in a dinner that typically generates debate about whether the relationship between journalists and their sources should include socialising together and putting aside sometimes adversarial relationships.
The president was being watched closely at the event held by the organisation of reporters who cover him and his administration.
Past presidents who have attended have generally spoken about the importance of free speech and the First Amendment, adding in light roasts about individual journalists. The Republican president did not attend during his first term or the first year of his second.
He came as a guest in 2011, sitting in the audience as then-president Barack Obama, a Democrat, made some jokes about the New York real estate developer.
Trump also attended as a private citizen in 2015.
SHARE ME