Trump Says Suspect Was Armed With Multiple Weapons

While addressing the media shortly after the incident, US President Donald Trump said Saturday that the suspect behind the shooting incident at the media gala in Washington was a “would-be assassin,” adding that the man was “armed with multiple weapons.”

The man charged past a security checkpoint, Trump said, adding: “One officer was shot but saved by the fact that he was wearing a, obviously, a very good bulletproof vest.” “He was shot from very close distance with a very powerful gun, and the vest did the job,” he said.

Trump added that the Washington hotel hosting Saturday’s White House correspondents’ dinner — where a would-be assassin exchanged gunfire with security agents — was “not a particularly secure” facility.

“We looked at all of the conditions that took place tonight, and I will say, you know, it’s not a particularly secure building,” Trump said of the Washington Hilton hotel that has hosted major political events since it opened in 1965. The shooting suspect was identified as Cole Tomas Allen, 31, of Torrance, California, two law enforcement officials told The Associated Press.