Details emerge about accused White House Correspondents' Dinner shooter
U.S. President Donald Trump walks next to Vice President JD Vance at a press briefing at the White House, following a shooting incident during the annual White House Correspondents’ Association dinner, in Washington, D.C., U.S., April 25, 2026 REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst
Journalist Ken Klippenstein reported new details about Cole Allen, the California resident accused of attempting to assassinate President Donald Trump at the White House Correspondents' Dinner.
In his Substack, Klippenstein described Allen's, 31, background as "unsettling in its ordinariness."
In his reporting, Klippenstein obtained Allen's resume and interviewed former colleagues, revealing Allen earned a mechanical engineering degree from California Institute of Technology, or Caltech, in 2017 and worked at IJK Controls LLC, a defense technology company based in California. Allen also developed video games and interned at a medical device company.
Contrary to Trump's claims that Allen "hates Christians," former Caltech classmates described Allen as a prominent member of the Caltech Christian Fellowship. He appeared to be a devout Christian.
Klippenstein noted the rumors circulating about Allen being an anti-Christian zealot aided by left-wing networks lack substantiation based on available evidence.
FBI officials are investigating whether Allen acted alone.