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President Donald Trump and several administration officials were evacuated by the Secret Service after shots were fired at the Washington Hilton during the White House Correspondents’ Dinner on Saturday, April 25. Attendees described what sounded like four gunshots were heard coming from the lobby, and armed Secret Service agents rushed in to control the scene and remove the president.
Devlin Barrett, a reporter for The New York Times covering the DOJ and FBI, reported that the gunman was stopped at a security perimeter and was taken into custody, “according to people familiar with the investigation,” though CNN’s Wolf Blitzer reported that the shooter was killed by law enforcement. He said that he had been near the men’s room and saw the shooter. A Secret Service spokesman later announced that one person was in custody and that the “condition of those involved is not yet known.”
As agents rushed to protect the president, other dinner attendees were told to get down, and they huddled in the floor. Within half an hour or so of the shooting, it was announced the dinner would resume.
“Quite an evening in D.C. Secret Service and Law Enforcement did a fantastic job,” President Trump posted on social media. “They acted quickly and bravely. The shooter has been apprehended, and I have recommended that we ‘LET THE SHOW GO ON’ but will entirely be guided by Law Enforcement. They will make a decision shortly.” While members of the press and Trump’s Cabinet were escorted back into the ballroom around 9:30 Eastern, the president himself did reportedly leave the Hilton.
The venue, the Washington Hilton, is the same place John Hinkley, Jr. tried to kill President Ronald Reagan on March 30, 1981.
