Who is Cole Tomas Allen, the suspect in the White House Correspondents’ Dinner shooting?

April 26 (Reuters) – The suspect arrested in the White House Correspondents’ Dinner shooting on Saturday was identified by a law enforcement official as Cole Tomas Allen, a Los Angeles-area man who appears ​from social media sites to be a Caltech graduate working as a part-time ‌teacher and game developer.

* The official said Allen, approximately 31 years of age, is a resident of Torrance, California, a coastal town that is part of the South Bay area adjacent to Los Angeles abutting ​Santa Monica Bay.

* The chief of the District of Columbia police department said ​investigators believe the suspect was a guest at the Washington Hilton hotel, ⁠where the annual dinner was taking place, but that no motive had been determined.

* Facebook ​postings appearing to relate to Cole show that he was named “Teacher of the Month” in ​December 2024 by the Torrance office of C2 Education, a nationwide private test-preparation and tutoring service for college-bound students.

* A LinkedIn profile in the suspect’s name describes him as a “mechanical engineer and computer scientist by degree, ​independent game developer by experience, teacher by birth.”

* The chief of the District of Columbia police department said ​investigators believe the suspect was a guest at the Washington Hilton hotel, ⁠where the annual dinner was taking place, but that no motive had been determined.

* Facebook ​postings appearing to relate to Cole show that he was named “Teacher of the Month” in ​December 2024 by the Torrance office of C2 Education, a nationwide private test-preparation and tutoring service for college-bound students.

* A LinkedIn profile in the suspect’s name describes him as a “mechanical engineer and computer scientist by degree, ​independent game developer by experience, teacher by birth.”

* The Secret Service said the suspect was armed with a shotgun and was taken into custody after opening fire ⁠at a ​Secret Service agent in the Washington Hilton Hotel, outside ​the ballroom where the event was attended by President Donald Trump, his wife Melania, Vice President JD Vance and ​several cabinet secretaries.