The revelation came amid questions about whether a colleague injured the agent or suspect Cole Thomas Allen at the event at the Washington Hilton.
Suspect in DC Press Dinner shooting appears in court
A judge announces that Cole Thomas Allen has been charged with attempting to assassinate the President of the United States.
WASHINGTON – A federal review of witness and investigator statements about last weekend’s shootout at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner is consistent with the suspected gunman being the person who shot and killed a Secret Service agent, according to a law enforcement official briefed on the investigation.
Evidence so far suggests that the only Secret Service agent who actually fired his weapon was the one who was wounded trying to thwart what prosecutors say was an assassination attempt on President Donald Trump and other senior administration officials.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said at a press conference on April 27 that he fired five shots at the unidentified suspect, Cole Thomas Allen, in an attempt to stop him from breaking through the initial security barrier at an event at the Washington Hilton Hotel.
The weapons of all other Secret Service agents at the scene were checked, but no shots were fired, said a law enforcement official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the ongoing FBI and Secret Service investigation.
The findings appear to contradict recent speculation by online observers who pored over video of the shootout and witnessed multiple agents training their weapons on Allen from various angles. Law enforcement officials said that based on information gathered so far, Secret Service officials have largely ruled out mutual gunfire as a possible cause of the agent’s injuries, but cautioned that FBI ballistics and forensic investigations are still ongoing.
When asked at an April 27 press conference who fired the bullet that hit the deputy, Blanche said, “We want to know exactly that, so we’re still looking into it.”
“He walked through the magnetometer with a long gun. As he did so, U.S. Secret Service agents assigned to the checkpoint heard loud gunshots. One Secret Service agent was shot in the chest and was wearing a bulletproof vest, which was functioning,” Allen told reporters.
“This heroic officer was shot and then fired five shots at Mr. Allen. Mr. Allen was not shot and fell to the ground and was immediately arrested,” Blanche said.
Blanche said an examination of Allen’s shotgun showed he had fired the shot.
The ballroom where the 2,500-person event was being held is one floor down from where the incident occurred on April 25 around 8:30 p.m.
MS NOW reported on April 26, citing two people briefed on the investigation, that the FBI, the lead agency investigating the shooting, had not found any bullet fragments that struck the Secret Service officer’s bulletproof vest, and that “investigators cannot say for sure whether the armed assailant shot the officer or how he was injured.”
The FBI is conducting its own investigation into the shooting to gather evidence against Allen, who was charged Monday with attempting to assassinate the president. The investigation will include not only ballistics and forensic analysis to determine who shot the agent, but also whether the agent fired his own weapon during the incident and whether it was done in accordance with policy, a law enforcement official familiar with the investigation told USA TODAY.
