Gunman in DC Gala Attack Built Up Arsenal to Target US Officials

WATCH: President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance were evacuated from the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner in Washington Saturday after shots were fired at the hotel where the event was taking place. A suspect is now in custody and being questioned, Trump said.Source: Bloomberg

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By Myles Miller

April 26, 2026 at 12:55 PM UTC

Updated on

April 26, 2026 at 6:27 PM UTC

The man accused of storming the White House Correspondents’ Dinner spent years quietly acquiring his arsenal, purchasing a shotgun from a Torrance, California, firearms dealer eight months before the attack and a semi-automatic pistol two years earlier, according to a law enforcement intelligence profile reviewed by Bloomberg.

Cole Tomas Allen, 31, bought a Maverick 12-gauge pump-action shotgun from Turner’s Outdoorsman in Torrance in August 2025 and an Armscor semi-automatic pistol from CAP Tactical Firearms in Lawndale in October 2023, the profile shows.