The suspected shooter at Saturday night’s White House Correspondents’ Association dinner is a former Teacher of the Month, who acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said likely set out to target members of the Trump administration and possibly President Donald Trump.
While authorities have yet to publicly name the suspect in custody, two law enforcement sources familiar with the matter told The Associated Press his name is Cole Tomas Allen, a 31-year-old game developer and teacher from Torrance, California. Officials are still working to pin down the shooter’s motive, but Trump in a Fox News interview Sunday said he had written a “manifesto” that was “strongly anti-Christian.”
Blanche said officials believe the shooter traveled by train with knives and guns from California to Chicago and then to Washington D.C., where he was a guest at the Washington Hilton, the site of the correspondents’ dinner.
“It does appear that he did in fact set out to target folks who work in the administration, likely including the president,” Blanche told NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday.
Blanche added that the suspect is not cooperating with law enforcement.
