Blanche says administration officials were apparent targets at correspondents’ dinner

Trump administration officials — “likely including the president” — were the apparent targets of the shooting at the annual White House correspondents’ dinner, acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said Sunday.

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In an interview with NBC’s “Meet the Press” the morning after President Donald Trump was rushed off stage by Secret Service agents as guests ducked under dining tables while shots rang out at the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner, Blanche said of the gunman: “We believe that he was targeting administration officials.”

Blanche cautioned that the belief is “quite preliminary” as law-enforcement officials sift through evidence.  The acting attorney general said investigators had recovered the suspect’s “electronic devices” and that “there were some writings, and we’ve already spoken with several witnesses who knew him.”

He did not elaborate on the writings. But the New York Post obtained what it called a 1,052-word missive from the gunman, sent to his family members moments before he carried out the foiled attack, in which he said he intended to target administration officials.

The suspect referred to himself as the “Friendly Federal Assassin” in closing his letter. Law enforcement sources described the writings to MS NOW as anti-Trump in nature but not aligned to one specific ideology. 

U.S. Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said Sunday that the suspect’s brother in New London, Connecticut, contacted local police, who then alerted the Secret Service. Guglielmi said the Secret Service learned of the suspect’s writings sometime between 9 and 11 p.m. ET Saturday night.

Blanche said investigators believe that the suspect, which a former senior law enforcement official identified to MS NOW as 31-year old California resident Cole Tomas Allen, acted alone. He said the man traveled by train from Los Angeles to Chicago and then from Chicago to Washington. The suspect had two firearms on him that were purchased legally in past couple of years, Blanche said.

The armed suspect was tackled near a security checkpoint at the Washington Hilton hotel, where the event has been held annually for decades, before he could enter the ballroom. He was taken into custody, hospitalized and remains under observation, according to D.C. interim Police Chief Jeff Carroll. The gunman shot a Secret Service agent in his protective vest and that agent was injured but in good condition, Trump told reporters Saturday night.