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The U.S. Department of Justice on Thursday released dramatic surveillance footage capturing the moment a gunman rushed a security checkpoint and opened fire on a Secret Service agent at a White House Correspondents' Association dinner attended by then-President Trump and Vice President Pence.
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The footage, which is nearly six minutes long, shows the moments leading up to and during the attack at the Washington Hilton hotel. The suspect, identified as 31-year-old Cole Tomas Allen, is seen on camera casing the hotel the day before the event.
On the day of the attack, Allen is shown pacing in a hallway and fitness center before emerging from a doorway into a lobby area leading to the security checkpoint.
Seconds after he disappears from view, a police officer with a K-9 unit approaches the same door, peers down the hall for about 12 seconds, and then leaves.
Immediately after the officer departs, Allen suddenly rushes out, brandishing a firearm.
The video shows him running past the security checkpoint in just four seconds. Prosecutors say the footage shows Allen exchanging fire with a Secret Service agent, though the exact moment he fires is not clearly visible.
Another angle appears to show a Secret Service agent firing three shots in the direction of the gunman. Authorities confirmed that Allen was not hit during the exchange.
The Secret Service agent was struck in their ballistic vest and sustained non-life-threatening injuries.
While ballistics experts are investigating whether the agent was hit by the suspect's bullet or by friendly fire from another officer, prosecutors leading the case stated the evidence points to the suspect.
"The video shows Mr. Allen firing at the Secret Service agent," said Washington, D.C. Federal Prosecutor Jeanine Pirro. "There is no evidence to suggest this shooting involved friendly fire from another law enforcement officer." She added that the footage released by the prosecution is clearer than a version previously released by Trump himself after the incident.
Secret Service Director Sean Curran told Fox News in an interview that the suspect fired at the agent from "close range." "All the evidence I've seen shows the suspect fired a shotgun at our agent at close range," Curran stated. "Even after being shot in the chest, our agent heroically returned fire, discharging five rounds."
The incident concluded when Allen reportedly tripped over a metal detector after the firefight, allowing other officers and agents to subdue and apprehend him on the ground.
Allen has been charged with the attempted assassination of President Trump but has not yet entered a plea. If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of life in prison.
𝗗𝗼𝘄𝗻𝗹𝗼𝗮𝗱 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗔𝗽𝗽 ↓
