President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump were evacuated from their tables at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. Reports are still developing, but three loud bangs were said to be heard, and a suspect is reportedly dead at the scene.
POLITICO reports that President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump were sitting at a table inside a ballroom at the Washington Hilton on Saturday (April 25). As captured in several camera images, the scene in which the president and his wife were whisked away to safety was frantic.
According to the X feed of CNN‘s Chief White House Correspondent and anchor of The Source, Kaitlyn Collins, a Secret Service agent informed her that a shooter was taken down at the scene and is reported to be dead.
Just moments ago, Collins shared the following to her X account feed:
We are inside the ballroom of the Hilton. One Service agent told me the shooter is confirmed dead. Agents swarmed the room within minutes of shots being heard, running down the main aisle. But because Cabinet officials are seated throughout the room, many of them remained on the floor, crouched under tables as the president was evacuated from the stage.
Weija Jang of CBS, who serves as the White House Correspondents Association president, shared at the event that “the program will resume,” although that seems curious following a shooting.
Thus far, there have been no reported injuries among attendees, who reportedly took cover under tables when the skirmish began.
We will return to this post with details as they emerge. There are also skeptics on social media who believe the event might have been staged, similar to the shooting when Trump was on the campaign trail. We’ll share reactions online below.
UPDATE — As seen on Kaitlyn Collins’ X feed:
UPDATE 2 — Reuters is reporting that a man armed with a shotgun carried out the attack, according to Secret Service officials. President Trump also posted on Truth Social tonight (April 25) that the shooter was taken into custody, which conflicted with earlier accounts.
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Photo: Getty