Suspect in custody following shooting at White House Correspondents Dinner

(NBC, KYMA) - A suspect is in custody after shots were fired and one officer was shot at the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner Saturday night, forcing U.S. Secret Service agents to evacuate the president.

Just hours after learning the identity of the suspected shooter, federal agents flocked to a neighborhood in Torrance, California, where they began searching for every piece of evidence they could find inside the home where officials say 31-year-old Cole Thomas Allen currently lives.

An NBC affiliate in the Los Angeles area saw agents opening the garage door, searching one of the cars, and spending most of their time inside the property.

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche told NBC News that preliminary findings suggest that administration officials were the main targets last night.

NBC News has also learned that Allen's guns were legally purchased.

According to a senior law enforcement official and law enforcement documents reviewed by NBC News, authorities say Allen had a rifle and a handgun on him when they took him into custody Saturday night at the Washington Hilton.

Records show that Allen purchased a 12-gage shotgun in August of 2025. He also purchased a semi automatic pistol two years prior, and a senior law enforcement official tells NBC News that those two were the weapons that they recovered last night as well.

News of Allen's involvement in the shooting at the White House Correspondents Dinner sent shockwaves across the quiet Torrance neighborhood, especially for those who had interacted with them previously.

He received a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from Cal Tech, and as of right now, he will have his first court hearing Monday and arraigned on multiple charges.