By Lake DiStefano
Nation & World Editor
The suspected shooter at the recent White House correspondent's dinner has been charged with attempted assassination of President Donald Trump, following his first court appearance, according to NBC News.
The suspect faces three felony counts of attempted assassination of the president of the United States, transportation of a firearm and ammunition over state lines with the intent to commit a felony and discharge of a firearm during a crime of violence. This is also allegedly the third assassination attempt that Trump has faced, according to ABC News.
Armed with multiple weapons, the suspect is said to have exchanged gunfire with law enforcement in the Washington hotel's lobby before being tackled, police said, according to NBC News. The incident marks the third time in the last two years in which Trump has faced the threat of gunfire.
The shooting, which occurred on April 25, started just after 8:30 p.m., in the basement of the Washington Hilton. The president was on stage, with the other thousands of attendees being seated at more than 250 tables, when popping noises started to be heard from the lobby, according to The Washington Post.
“I thought it was a tray going down,” Trump would later say.
A California teacher and engineer, Cole Tomas Allen, 31, allegedly believed it was his responsibility to target Trump administration officials, according to a note he sent family members minutes before the attack, according to NBC News.
Allen allegedly wrote that administration officials were his targets, "not including [FBI Director Kash] Mr. Patel," and were “prioritized from highest-ranking to lowest,” the criminal complaint said. He also allegedly wrote that the Secret Service agents were targets “only if necessary, and to be incapacitated non-lethally if possible,” according to ABC News.
The note included other stipulations, such as the hotel security, Capitol police and the National Guard being “not targets if at all possible (aka unless they shoot at me),” and hotel employees and guests were “not targets at all,” according to ABC News.
The note also included a final point, about how he was willing to “go through most everyone here to get to the targets if it were absolutely necessary,” adding, “'I really hope it doesn't come to that,” according to ABC News.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Jocelyn Ballantine said the government was seeking Allen's continued detention pending trial.
Ballantine further went on to say that Allen attempted to assassinate Trump using a 12-gauge pump action shotgun, along with also carrying a .38 caliber semi-automatic pistol, three knives “and other dangerous paraphernalia,” on his person, according to ABC News.
“He either unfolded a part of the gun or pieced it together,” Helen Mabus, a volunteer ticket checker, said. “It became longer before my eyes. And within seconds, he was shooting.”
Trump would later say he “wasn't worried” during the shooting, as he was evacuated from the packed ballroom.
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