President Donald Trump was rushed offstage shortly after gunshots were fired outside the ballroom where the White House Correspondents’ Dinner was in the process of being served on Saturday.
Heavily armed security agents suddenly appeared alongside the banquet table where the president and first lady were sitting alongside White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, Vice President JD Vance and other guests of honor.
An individual is in custody, according to the U.S. Secret Service, but how a person managed to bring a firearm so close to a venue with incredibly tight security precautions is far from clear. Law enforcement said the incident took place near the magnetometers that were set up inside the Washington Hilton.
One law enforcement officer was shot, The Associated Press reported, but is expected to be OK.
The president, who was uninjured, initially indicated that he wanted to continue with the night’s programming — including the speech he was expected to give — but said it was up to the U.S. Secret Service, which decided to call the event off.
