White House Correspondents’ Dinner Shooting Suspect Reportedly Worked as an Indie Game Developer

by

Authorities have identified the shooter from Saturday night’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner incident in Washington, D.C. as 31-year-old Cole Tomas Allen, from Torrance, California. According to Reuters, Allen’s LinkedIn profile shows he graduated from Caltech in 2017 with a degree in mechanical engineering, a fact Caltech has confirmed. Online profiles connected to Allen also indicate he works as a tutor, teacher, and independent game developer.

Allen was arrested and will likely be charged with federal crimes, such as assaulting a federal officer, firing a weapon, and attempting to kill one, stated Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche.

Investigators said the suspect was carrying a shotgun, handgun, and several knives. According to CBS News, citing sources within law enforcement, he had previously owned firearms, including the shotgun used in the shooting, which he bought in August 2025, and a semiautomatic pistol purchased in 2023.

According to D.C. U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro, Allen will likely be in federal court on Monday for an arraignment, and more charges could be filed as the investigation progresses.

While officials haven’t officially stated a motive, Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche indicated that investigators think the suspect intended to target people who worked in the Trump administration, and possibly President Trump himself.

Fortunately, no one at the event was seriously hurt. A Secret Service agent was hit by a bullet, but they were wearing a bulletproof vest which protected them from severe injury. According to Secret Service spokesperson Anthony Guglielmi, the agent has already been discharged from the hospital.

Around 8:35 p.m., a man named Allen opened fire with a shotgun near a security checkpoint at the Washington Hilton, where the White House Correspondents’ Dinner was taking place. According to Reuters, he shot at a Secret Service agent before being subdued and arrested. Guests, including members of the White House press, dove under tables for cover while Secret Service agents rushed President Trump to safety.

President Trump later announced on Truth Social that the shooter had been caught. He then told reporters that authorities thought the suspect acted alone.

Following Allen’s arrest, detectives started looking at potential evidence, such as his writings, computers, and associated addresses. At the same time, journalists and people online began studying Allen’s online profiles for any revealing information about his past.

A LinkedIn profile appearing to belong to him identified him as a part-time teacher at C2 Education. CNN reported that C2 Education had named him “Teacher of the Month” in December 2024.

Allen graduated from the California Institute of Technology with a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering in 2017. He recently completed his master’s degree in computer science at California State University, Dominguez Hills.

I was digging around and found out he used to be part of the Christian fellowship and, get this, the Nerf club at Caltech! It was so cute – Caltech even posted about him when he graduated in 2017. They shared a recent picture of him looking all grown up in a cardigan, alongside a really sweet throwback photo of him as a kid hugging a stuffed bunny. It really showed a different side of him!

That year, a local news source also highlighted his invention of a wheelchair emergency brake prototype.

Allen’s LinkedIn profile also shows he’s a video game developer. He created and released a small, independent game called Bohrdom on Steam, where it’s available for $1.99.

This multiplayer fighting game uses the principles of chemistry as its core mechanic, focusing on how electrons interact. It’s described on Steam as a skill-based, asymmetrical game where players battle without violence, all inspired by a simplified, real-world chemistry model.

Before a recent event brought it attention, Bohrdom was a little-known independent game with few players. Currently, the game has mixed reviews on Steam, and is developed and published by a single person, Cole Allen. News website Kotaku reported that the game gained more attention when Allen’s background was investigated online.

Allen’s LinkedIn profile shows he was developing another game, called First Law. He envisioned it as a top-down shooter/RPG with realistic, physics-based space battles in 2D. The game went through a few potential titles – Artifact and Endgame – before a final name was settled on.

Read More

2026-04-27 02:58