Before opening fire during the White House Correspondents’ dinner event at the Washington Hill hotel, the shooter, Cole Tomas Allen, allegedly assembled a long weapon in a lightly monitored room in the hotel, an eyewitness named Helen Mabus told The New York Times.
Mabus, who worked as a volunteer during the event, further mentioned that the hotel had a makeshift room, close to the entrance. The room was used by the hotel administration to store bar carts and was left unmonitored during the time of the incident.
Taking advantage of this, Allen first took the weapon out, started firing, and rushed to the ballroom before being apprehended by the Secret Service.
“He was in that room. He grabbed it (the gun) out of a bag or something, put it together and ran towards the stairs to go down to the ballroom,” Mabus said, indicating that the weapon looked much longer and more unusual than a normal gun.
Further, Mabus mentioned that he fired many rounds in multiple directions.
“It just seemed like he was shooting all over the place.” She also added that she heard sounds of at least 10 firings.
Speaking further, Mabus said that the firing triggered panic among the crowd, which rushed to save their lives. However, the incident did not lead to any casualties as the Secret Service acted swiftly in nabbing the alleged perpetrator.
SUSPECT TARGETED TRUMP, STAYED IN SAME HOTEL, SAYS TODD BLANCHE
Talking about the incident, Todd Blanche, the US Attorney General, said that US President Donald Trump and several other officials from the Trump administration were the primary target of the shooter.
“It does appear that he, he did, in fact, set out to target folks that work in the administration, likely including the president,” he said.
As the preliminary investigation has suggested, Allen, who travelled from the US West Coast to Washington, stayed at the same hotel where the high-profile event was being held, indicating a planned attempt to get close to political figures.
