Acting attorney general on White House Correspondents’ Dinner shooting

WASHINGTON (CBS, KYMA) - Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche spoke with Margaret Brennan on Face the Nation Sunday following a shooting outside the ballroom of the Washington Hilton Hotel where the White House Correspondents' Dinner was taking place.

President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump were whisked off the stage by Secret Service agents as the sound of gunfire sent dinner attendees ducking under tables.

The suspect is in custody. He has been identified as 31-year-old Cole Allen of Torrance California, multiple sources told CBS News.

He was armed with a shotgun, a handgun and knives, and is believed to have acted alone, police said.

When asked what the FBI has discovered in his home, as well as his hotel room in D.C., Acting Attorney General Blanche said:

"The FBI worked all night, working with local law enforcement, working with the Secret Service. They've executed various search warrants on locations, also on devices that were recovered from the suspect. This investigation is just over 12 hours old, so we still are actively looking at everything that happened, but as of now, we have collected a fair amount of evidence, which we're now going through."

Brennan followed up by asking Blanche if there was any indication Allen was part of a group, and if there was any foreign nexus to the inspiration for the violence he attempted Saturday night, and Blanche said:

"We're still looking into motivation, and that's something that hopefully we'll learn over the next couple of days. We do believe, based upon just a very preliminary start to understanding what happened, that he was targeting members of the administration. We don't have specifics beyond that kind of general statement from what we've learned so far, but we're actively talking to witnesses that knew him, and talking to other individuals and going through the material that we've collected. So I expect that you will hear more about that in the coming days."

During the interview, Brennan and Blanche talked about Allen being charged with two counts of using a firearm during a federal crime and assault on a federal officer using a dangerous weapon.

This prompted Brennan to ask if Blanche anticipates, at this point, any further charges, to which he said:

"We'll see about further charges. So that's one of the things that we need to go through the evidence. So there's a lot of federal charges that could be in play beyond those two charges, but it depends on us understanding his motive, his intent, his premeditation, that what led into him, him deciding that he was going to do what he did last night. But just to be clear, those are very serious charges. He will face a judge as early as tomorrow morning for those two charges, but but the investigation is brand new, and so we will continue to investigate. And if there's more charges, they'll they'll be brought. He'll be charged via complaint, and that'll be tomorrow morning, and then an indictment will come, will come thereafter, and there could be additional charges in that indictment, but we have to see as the evidence develops."

Later in the interview, Brennan and Blanche talked about the U.S. Secret Service agent who was injured in the shooting.

According to Trump, the agent was wearing his bulletproof vest, leading Brennan to ask if he has been released from the hospital, and if it was Allen who shot the agent, and Blanche said:

"That's what we that's what we understand as of now. And the president spoke with him last night. He was in great spirits. He apparently didn't really even want to go to the hospital, although he was, he was certainly injured, and it was the right thing as far as whether he's been released, I don't want to get into his, you know, his medical situation. That's not fair to him, but enough to say that we all heard his voice last night, the president gave him words of encouragement and appreciation and thanking him for the work that he's doing for all of us and and I will tell you, he was in very good spirits, and so that's a tragedy avoided, and it is because he was wearing a bulletproof vest."

To watch more of Brennan's interview with Blanche, click here.