White House Correspondents’ Dinner shooting suspect worked as California teacher

By Casey Tolan, Kristen Holmes, Holmes Lybrand, Kyung Lah, CNN

(CNN) — The man suspected of opening fire at the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner on Saturday night worked as a teacher and video game developer from Southern California, according to public records.

Cole Tomas Allen, 31, who lives in the Los Angeles suburb of Torrance, has been identified by law enforcement as the armed man subdued near the dinner where President Trump and other officials had gathered, two sources familiar with the matter told CNN.

Allen is being charged with two counts of using a firearm and one count of assault on a federal officer using a dangerous weapon, according to the US Attorney for the District of Columbia, Jeanine Pirro, who did not name him publicly.

“This individual was intent on doing as much harm and as much damage as he could,” Pirro said hours after the incident at the Washington Hilton.

The suspect was “armed with a shotgun, a handgun and multiple knives” when he charged through a security checkpoint, police said.

No motive has been given and authorities believe Allen acted alone.

Overnight into Sunday, FBI agents assembled outside a home linked to Allen in Torrance, a Los Angeles suburb. Police tape was put up along part of the street and a spotlight was shone on the home. A number of reporters were gathered at the scene and news helicopters were hovering overhead.

A next-door neighbor, who did not wish to be identified, told CNN he was not sure if Allen lived at the property. They said they did not see him often, but he was there “a couple of days ago.” The neighbor said the suspected gunman’s father is friendly and chatty, adding that they spoke frequently.

A LinkedIn profile matching Allen’s name and photo described him as a part-time teacher at C2 Education, a test prep and tutoring company. C2 named Allen the company’s “teacher of the month” in December 2024, according to social media posts from the company. No one answered a phone number for C2 late Saturday evening.

According to his LinkedIn profile, Allen graduated from the California Institute of Technology in 2017 with a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering, and received a master’s degree in computer science from California State University-Dominguez Hills last year.

While at CalTech, he was a member of the school’s Christian fellowship and the nerf club, according to his LinkedIn profile.

He was featured in a CalTech graduation announcement posted by the university in 2017 on Facebook, which included a picture of him as an adult wearing a cardigan and a photo of him as a beaming young child holding a stuffed bunny.

As a student at Caltech, Allen was featured in a local news report in 2017 for developing a prototype emergency brake for wheelchairs.

Allen also described himself as a video game developer on his LinkedIn profile, and appears to have published an indie game called Bohrdom for sale on the Steam gaming platform for $1.99. He registered a trademark for the game’s name in 2018, according to federal trademark records.

The game is described on Steam as a “skill-based, non-violent asymmetrical fighting game loosely derived from a chemistry model that is itself loosely based on reality.”

On his LinkedIn, Allen wrote that he was “currently developing a second game, working name ‘First Law.’”

Allen donated $25 to Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign in October 2024, according to Federal Election Commission records.

This story has been updated with additional details.

CNN’s Curt Devine, Scott Glover and Majlie de Puy Kamp contributed reporting.

The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2026 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.