Security officials react as a shooter opens fire during the annual White House Correspondents' Association dinner in Washington, D.C., U.S., April 25, 2026. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst
Journalists covering the White House Correspondents' Dinner described the chaotic scene that led to the evacuation of President Donald Trump and a shooter reportedly dead.
"I did not hear any shots. You just hear yelling like a commotion, someone coming through the room," a journalist told C-SPAN commentators during live coverage of the dinner. "I instinctively got under the table. Other people got under the table."
CNN journalist Brian Stelter told viewers that Oz Pearlman was talking to President Donald Trump at his table, "and all of a sudden all hell broke loose."
CNN's Kaitlan Collins reported that the dinner was in a "total state of chaos in the ballroom" and that there was "a shooter outside" before it was verified.
"We are now basically locked inside the ballroom," Collins added. "I've never seen anything like this in my life."
Other journalists told C-SPAN commentators that they were "not sure what happened," but suddenly they saw "Secret Service running on tables."