The US court has released a selfie that the suspect in the shooting at President Donald Trump’s press dinner took 30 minutes before he stormed in. The photo shows Cole Allen (31) in the mirror of his hotel room.
Koen Van De Sype
Journalist at HLN
Allen wears a black shirt with a red tie and black pants. You may also see an ammunition pouch, a shoulder holster for a firearm, and a knife in a sheath.
The man had booked a room at the Hilton Hotel in Washington DC where the White House Correspondents’ Association gala took place on Saturday evening. In addition to Trump, many members of his administration and more than 2,000 journalists were present.
New details
The prosecutor’s document also contains new details about the incident. On the fateful evening, Allen followed the presidential calendar on his phone and viewed images of the president getting out of his car at the Hilton hotel.
He also prepared an email with an apology, which was automatically sent at 8:30 p.m. Shortly afterwards he stormed past a security post at the hotel. You can see that in these images:
He is said to have come within a few meters of the room where the president was. According to prosecutors, the man fired a shot in the direction of the stairs leading to the ballroom. An officer then shot five times in his direction.
Knee
Allen fell and was overpowered. He was wounded in the knee, but did not suffer a gunshot wound.
He turned out to be armed with a shotgun, a pistol, two knives, four daggers and enough ammunition to kill dozens of people.
The man is charged with attempted murder of the president, use of a firearm in a violent crime and interstate transportation of weapons to commit a crime. He faces life in prison for the first charge alone.
