Marine one lands in front of the White House | Photo: Gregor Meier
According to government officials, a gun attack was carried out while US President Donald Trump was attending the annual correspondents’ dinner in Washington. After the incident in the Washington Hilton Hotel in the evening (local time), the president was brought to safety, as reporters from the AFP news agency reported. The alleged attacker was arrested by the Secret Service.
According to the Secret Service, the incident occurred outside the security gate to the event. The President, First Lady Melania and other members of the government, including Vice President Vance, were escorted off the stage within seconds. According to media reports, the attacker is a 31-year-old man from Torrance, California. He was armed with a shotgun, a handgun and several knives. A Secret Service officer was shot but was uninjured thanks to his bulletproof vest.
In a press conference at the White House around two hours after the incident, Trump praised the deployment of the security forces. The shooter had “multiple weapons” and was a “would-be murderer,” Trump said. In his impression it was a “lone wolf”, i.e. a lone perpetrator. The president assumes that he was the target of the attack.
Trump initially advocated continuing the press gala, but it was canceled due to security concerns and will be rescheduled within a month. Trump had already narrowly escaped an assassination attempt during the election campaign in July 2024, when a gunman narrowly missed him in the state of Pennsylvania and slightly injured his ear.
