Cole Allen’s shotgun seen for the first time as chilling new details of how he was able to bypass security and charge the ballroom revealed

The shotgun that Cole Allen allegedly brought to the White House Correspondents’ Dinner was seen for the first time.

Allen, 31, is accused of opening fire and shooting a Secret Service member outside the gala Saturday night while Trump and Cabinet members were inside enjoying salad entrees.

The suspect was also seen in a new photo taken immediately after his arrest. Allen was photographed shirtless, covered with a mylar blanket.

The Mossberg Maverick 12-gauge gun he was allegedly holding as he passed through the security checkpoint at the Washington Hilton was seen on the carpeted floor.

This was just one of the weapons Allen was accused of bringing to the event.

Authorities said the attacker was also armed with a gun and knives as he ran to the security checkpoint on the upper floor of the reception.

After gunshots were exchanged with the police, the armed attacker was laid on the ground.

When he was arrested, Allen was just feet away from a Saturday evening dinner where the President, Vice President, First Lady and most of Trump’s cabinet were dining.

Suspect shirtless and wrapped in a mylar blanket after arrest in Washington DC

Allen was reportedly staying at the Washington Hilton, where the dinner was held.

He is said to have avoided the hotel’s highly monitored corridors by going through an interior staircase that was less monitored than the corridors and elevators.

After running approximately ten floors down the stairwell, the alleged gunman emerged on a lower level, near the initial screening area where magnetometers and the Secret Service were positioned.

There were concerns about how Allen could bring the shotgun, gun and knives to the hotel without being detected.

He was captured on a floor above the reception, but if he had been able to continue descending another flight of stairs, he would have breached the dining hall where Trump and his top officials were dining.

Trump, who was evacuated to the White House after gunshots, noted that the hotel was not a particularly safe place.

According to a memo he sent to family members moments before his planned attack, Allen was trying to eliminate the President and members of his inner circle.

According to the New York Post, the note read: ‘Turning the other cheek is for when you’re under pressure. I am not someone who was raped in a detention camp. I am not a fisherman who was executed without trial.

The President and First Lady Melania Trump sat on stage as gunshots rang out on Saturday

White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles calls for a security meeting with USSS and Department of Homeland Security following shocking incident

‘I am not a blown-up schoolboy or a starving child or a teenage girl abused by the many criminals in this administration. It is not Christian behavior to turn the other cheek when *someone else* is under pressure; It means being a party to the crimes of the oppressor.

‘To minimize damage, I will use lead instead of slug (less penetration through walls).

A senior White House official told the Daily Mail that Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Susie Wiles called for a security meeting with the USSS and the Department of Homeland Security to discuss Saturday’s attack.

“President Trump said he personally thought they did an excellent job neutralizing the attacker and moving the President, First Lady, Vice President and Cabinet to safety,” a senior White House official told the Daily Mail.

‘However, Chief of Staff Susie Wiles is holding a meeting earlier this week with the White House operations team, USSS and DHS leadership to discuss protocols and practices for major events involving POTUS.’

Since a pair of assassination attempts on Trump during the 2024 campaign, a series of security lapses have rattled the Secret Service, including when a group of protesters entered near the President’s feet at a D.C. restaurant last year, breaches at Trump’s Florida home and, most recently, at a press gala.

In late February, USSS and local law enforcement shot and killed 21-year-old Austin Martin after he breached the secure perimeter of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home with a shotgun.

In September 2025, the President was confronted by a group of screaming protesters at Joe’s Seafood in Washington.

Code Pink activists came within feet of Trump, raising concerns about how they knew about the President’s impromptu visit to the restaurant.